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Bicep review – muscular, head-rushing tech house

Roundhouse, London
The Northern Irish dance duo showcase their skill for ping-ponging melody and beautifully tooled drum programming, paired with magnificent visuals

Bicep cut a relatively rare shape in today’s live music scene – no longer mere DJs, they’re one of the few dance artists (alongside Eric Prydz and a handful more) to have built up a strong live show from their own work. The duo stand fairly statically behind hardware and a laptop as their symbol emerges behind them – a trefoil of three clenched biceps – and it is an apt one, hinting at the macho homosexuality of disco, the Celtic roots of their native Northern Ireland, and the sheer elemental punch of a kick drum.

The crowd is predominantly young twentysomethings from the “sesh” generation, all in Champion tees, with Ketflix and Pills on their phones and a propensity to get on each other’s shoulders. They cheer in recognition as familiar licks eke their way into the flowing mix, turning to festival pandemonium as the Indian vocal sample of Rain kicks in, an anthem for yoga-loving Ibizans. The exceptional visuals by Black Box Echo build to fill the stage like psychedelic Lego and, for Opal, Matisse-like colour blocking.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2HGI3FC
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