Zed-U launched their new album Night Time On The Middle Passage at the Vortex in London at the end of last week. Bud-drinking, beret-touting clarinettist Shabaka Hutchings walked on stage, clambering over the bewildering assortment of loop-pedals and foot-operated effects units, and started the set with a piece titled ‘The Forest’. Complex delays and echoes created a haunting soundscape – further intensified by an undulating distortion coming from bass fret noises and drummer Tom Skinner’s tinkerings with electronic devices. The sound built towards apocalyptic post-rock territory which segued into the next song titled ‘Rocky’. It’s an apt title – bassist Neil Charles laid down a stone-hard riff duly matched by Skinner who thrashes out a rock beat. Above all this, Hutchings begins with a thoughtful, economical solo which draws upon simple pentatonic melodic statements before building towards a screeching climax at the highest reach of his instrument.

Throughout the evening the band guided us through an assortment of styles and sounds; at one point, a Terry Riley-like tape loop experiment creates a minimalist-textured wash of sound – in the next instance the sound morphs into a dub-like, bass heavy groove. Later on, a hard rock beat is replaced by riotous James Brown funk stabs and in the second set an electro-cover of a Kraftwerk tune is soon followed by a calypso beat which breaks into a sped-up drum and bass style.

Each musician brought his own contrasting timbre to the overall sound. Hutchings switches from a soothing panpipe effect, to a roaring growling tone, and then to a space-like chorus sound. My personal favourite was his gargling wah-wah effect which brought a new level of “cool” to the clarinet. Charles, too, has an armoury of sounds, from drone-like scratchy effects to a tone almost resembling a vocoder. Skinner meanwhile was busily hitting things with the handles of his brushes one minute, and triggering electronic samples with a drum stick at the next.

At times the compositions can seem a bit formulaic – repetitive muddy bass riffs, simple “exotic scale”-based melodies, and electronic manipulation of the above to create distorted soundscapes which noisily brew in the background. Nevertheless, the band connects well and importantly feeds off one another when building a sense of tension.

- David Tshulak