mp3: PIVOT ‘make me love you’
the problem with ‘best of’ lists is that inevitably someone gets missed out. a case in point is my ‘aussie top twenty’ lodged at the end of last year. there’s no mention of pivot on there, when – clearly – they should have been chasing the presets for the number one spot. apologies to the entire cosmos for such a grave error, but here’s where i make it up.
pivot are a quartet from sydney who marry many different shades of music, from post-rock and krautrock to free jazz, glitchtronica and much more. pivot’s album ‘make me love you’ naturally scooped fbi 94.5’s album of the week late last year and, if justice had prevailed, it would have found a spot in many year-end lists from critics australia-wide.
however, it’s in the live arena where pivot really come into their own – mixing studied, tested composition with the wildest of improvisations. at the root of the band is lawrence pike, without doubt the finest drummer working in australia today (i’ll let you know if i ever come across anyone who tops him). his work is sensational – simultaneously precision tight and rife with jazz flourishes, he puts all trad rock drummers to shame. he’s just one of the reasons that caribou, four tet and squarepusher have all added pivot to their support bill. pounding european pavements as part of burnt friendman’s flanger project, it hopefully won’t be long before the rest of the world wakes up to the madness.
tomorrow (sat 4th), pivot act as collaborators when they take to the stage with former can vocalist, damo suzuki at the mandarin club in sydney. suzuki makes his living from such engagements these days, travelling the world and hooking up with local artists, creating a live improvisation on each occasion. pivot and damo are on at 10pm (there’s promise of a 2 1/2 hour set) – i’ll be warming the place up with a krautrock dj set from 9pm. more info on the gig at popfrenzy, more on pivot at pivotisgoodboy.com and their myspace page.