Universal Sound Band

Usurper of Modern Medicine present Madvillainy Live Tribute @ The Bird

To the warm and dusty flicker of projector onto screen, a modest crowd huddle in from Autumn’s winter edge as the sounds of Diger Rokwell fill the cosy confines of the William Street Bird. It doesn’t take long for the lingering smokers and social jokers to wander inside as well. A looming crowd watches a clinical 70s blacksploitation flick on the screen in fascination as Rokwell takes us through a journey of universal sound. Layered behind global samples are strong elements of trip hop, electronica, dub and instrumental beats all providing thick portions of bass and strong rhythmic gestures. Stabbing away at sample pads and immersed in his work, Diger Rokwell is akin to an aging professor deep in his laboratory. The music and visual setting provide a trance like intoxication only to be broken when local emcee Mathas gets up to perform over a piano driven beat. A few comical tempo glitches aside, some of Rokwell’s new work off the upcoming release, Sri Digger in a fusion of experimental psychedelic electronica. It so happens that the multi-instrumentalists also like themselves some tasty hip hop and Sunday’s night’s performance saw a brilliant concept come to life. This wasn’t your average Usurper show, but a tribute to a recent visitor to our shores, MF Doom , and his standout collaborative album Madvillainy to incredible impact. With a real accordion on stage and a dynamic rhythm section with such rigor and intensity, everyone was unsurprisingly, losing their shit. Some may have never found it again; for the show kept on spiralling upwards into a wonderful climax of psychedelic visuals and brash adaptations. A Doom masked Mathas took first vocal duties and was on fine form. He is blessed with one of the sexiest voices in Perth hip hop, if not Australia (perceptively so anyway; if the occa beats n’ barbies formula isn’t your cup of Joe) and hearing / seeing him perform behind a live band was a very rewarding experience which will hopefully be a future direction he pursues. Mathas’ voice perfectly suited MF Doom’s distinctive style and his strong flow cut across the band with ease making him the standout guest vocalist. He holds all the pieces of a perfect edgy dangerous frontman, eyes bulging in fierce but playful swagger; reading off a homemade coffee stained scroll because he confessed he “couldn’t remember all the lyrics”.