Thursday 16 October 2008
7:30pm - 11pm
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Now, have we got a treat for you. In Week 3 we’ll be welcoming a pair of unassuming gents who deserve to be described solely in superlatives. They are crusaders. They are pioneers. They are giants among men. They are Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, and they are coming to your Union courtesy of the fine folk at U-Live.
This dynamic duo rocketed to prominence last year with their memorable debut single, the electro-rap crossover hit Thou Shalt Always Kill. A pointed, hilarious screed against the tidal-wave of crap that makes daily life such a chore, the track quickly gained notoriety for its acerbic lyrics and DIY video, and was trumpeted by everyone from Zane Lowe and John Kennedy to Mixmag and the NME (despite its deliciously accurate assertion that you should stay well away from the fashionista indie bible). It was, in fact, so good that it prompted one member of the Entertainments department to proclaim it one of the greatest things ever recorded. Mind you, he does also think Bush were one of the 90s’ defining rock acts, so it’s probably best to take that with a pinch of salt.
Nevertheless, beneath all the sermonising and witty wordplay there lay a serious point: that you should never take any proclamation at face-value and always think for yourselves. And therein lies the key to unlocking their chest of riches: each song is one thing on the surface and a different beast entirely underneath.
The duo’s debut album Angles is one of the most inventive records to have emerged from any genre in years. “Hip-hop is art”, Pip muses on Rapper’s Battle over a cheeky sample of Dizzee Rascal’s Fix Up, Look Sharp: “Don’t make another pop hit, be smart!” On Angles, he and Le Sac have pitched their tent firmly between both camps, creating music as ferociously intelligent as it is infectious. Along with the colossal, Radiohead-sampling Letter from God to Man (#1 on the NME Club Chart at the time of writing), the album’s highlight is its devastating title track, on which Pip assesses a seemingly minor incident from several different viewpoints, eventually exposing the wider social issues which underpin it. In Da Club it is not. Indeed, each track on the album assumes a different musical style and tackles a range of subjects, from teenage suicide to hip-hop’s lyrical stagnation and the death of Tommy Cooper. There’s even an analysis of the periodic table in there somewhere. Now that’s innovation.
Support comes from Kid Carpet, a man who makes all sort of weird noises with the kind of keyboards you only used to have so you could press the fancy 'Demo' button on. Think of him as a kind of Jilted John for the electro generation.
Unfortunately show-openers Astro-Physics have had to pull out of tonight's gig, but our very own Renegade DJs will be getting the party started with an eclectic mix of soul, funk, breakbeats and hip-hop cuts.
We’ve only been trying to get the headliners to play here, like, forever, so we’re as pumped as a bouncy castle to be able to bring you this show. Smart, funny, satirical, stylish - Le Sac and Pip are all these things and more (I mean, check out that beard, for pete’s sake). But hey, don’t take our word for it: come figure them out for yourselves.
Thursday 16th October
TEMPO
£10 NUS / non-NUS (£11 on the door)
Open to the general public