GAIKA, Kamixlo, Iceboy Violet, Tohji & More Takeover Peckham’s Bussey Building This Friday

Four of London’s most exciting experimental crews go head-to-head for a soundclash at Peckham’s Bussey Building this Friday, 16 August 2019. The line-up announced so far includes GAIKA, Iceboy Violet and Kamixlo, three artists operating at the edge of electronic music in 2019. Handpicked to represent Watford-born label Tobago Tracks is Iceboy Violet, whose show has seen them take centre stage worldwide from Somerset House in London, to venues in Macau and Milan. Hailing from Manchester, Violet’s sound blends together distorted loops, harrowing vocals to create atmospheres as rapturous as they are captivating.

Kamixlo, a founding member of Bala Club, has been consistently delivering a combination of rave euphoria and industrial machinations to rapidly out-of-control parties in the capital since 2015. Kamixlo’s breakout track was Latin-infused club banger Paleta, his formidable reggaeton piledriver written on the way to a friend’s party. Finding subtlety amongst the chaos is where Kamixlo excels, occupying a space between musical genres and cultures. Operating from his Brixton base, for Friday’s show, Kamixlo has assembled an international crew, including Stockholm’s WOESUM, and special guests from Berlin and beyond.

Gaika Tavares, better known simply as GAIKA, is a British artist and writer from South London. His debut album, Basic Volume, was released in July 2018 by Warp Records, who describe the sound as “gothic dancehall and industrial electronics.” GAIKA’s brainchild, The Spectacular Empire is an infrastructure for forward-thinking black expression. Forged in a fire of political alienation, thudding dancehall, URL anxiety and trunk rattling rap, The Spectacular Empire wants to sear a stark sonic vision of London, and the UK, into our collective consciousness. Channelling his own Grenadian and Jamaican heritage in his work, GAIKA’s grime, dancehall, and R&B-inflected output pushes radical political commentary about racial, economic, and social inequalities.

Eastern Margins is the collective creating a space in London for music from East and South East Asia(ns). For this special event, the collective have traversed Shibuya’s skyscrapers, Peckham’s backrooms and West Tokyo’s malls, giving an European debut to Tohji, the Japanese upstart who’s singlehandedly moving the epicentre of Tokyo’s rap scene to the city’s suburban malls. Flanking him will be Sinta, half of Tokyo’s influential Double Clapperz, the central artery of Japan’s grime scene. And representing for the diaspora will be Peckham’s Nammy Wams, joined by Ill Japonia, and MCs Big Wang, and Spicy Tofu. Book tickets here.

Soundclash Margins: Kamixlo’s Á&Y, Tobago Tracks, The Spectacular Empire & Eastern Margins at CLF Art Cafe, Bussey Building | 16 Aug 2019 (22:00 – 05:00)


Feature image: Still from HI-CHEW by Tohji. Directed by ANTIANTIART.