After the late eighties/early nineties musical baggydom that was Madchester, Northern England's capital is again enjoying a renaissance, with Badly Drawn Boy, the folky shambolics of the Twisted Nerve label and of course, Doves.
But the whole host of electronic gubbins which hides most of Glyn Thomas and Richard Woolgar from view tonight is a bit of a hint that floaty guitar pop is not what Alpinestars are about. What the pair are about is capturing the spirit of early eighties computer music. No, don't laugh, we're not talking Lipps Inc's 1980 smash 'Funkytown' here, (although the Metal Mickey robotic voice does appear a lot)!
Taking Depeche Mode-like synth, Thomas and Woolgar borrow the odd beat from techno and the vibes of trance, bringing them together to create an ethereal, shimmering soundscape. On songs like 'Jump Jet' and gorgeous current single '77 Sunset Strip', rainbow layers of keyboard converge, swimming in and out, changing colour and shape like so many fractals.
This is the sound of Air floating in space with only Giorgio Moroder (before we laughed at him) for company. The New Order-ly 'Size 9' (which actually has undistorted live singing! And a guitar!) with its slow drums, mournful vocals and sigh-invoking melody, can only be described as glorious. But then that could apply to every single song here.
You can't help but dance, (although that's not always a plus, as everyone standing around the bloke doing embarrassing arm snakes can tell you.) But what you come away with is not so much dancing feet as a sun-drenched soul - for despite its otherwordliness, Alpinestars' electronica is a million miles away from the coldness of its 1980 counterpart, driven by a distinctly human warmth so strong it could make you look on 'Funkytown' wth fondness.
