IAIN MORRISON and B.L.O.T. – PURVAI CLUB NIGHT
B.L.O.T! Snafu LIVE
Iain Morrison in India 2014
Trouble in the tradition! Not so much fusion as fission. An astonishing and innovative new collaboration featuring the compelling and ancient music of ceol-mor, re-imagined and re-launched by one of its foremost practitioners Iain Morrison, and then put in the blender with one of the globe’s top electronica VJ club acts B.L.O.T. from Delhi, India.
Iain Morrison was born and grew up on the Isle of Lewis. Taught to play the bagpipes by his father he later learned guitar and developed his own style as a singer/songwriter. In 2010, because of his background in the classical music of the pipes (piobaireachd) he was commissioned by Celtic Connections in Glasgow to write songs based on these melodies. The show, titled ‘Ceol Mor/Little Music’, got a 5 Star review from The Scotsman newspaper and songs from it broadcast for the BBC World on 3 radio programme.
That year he won Composer of the Year at The Scots Trad Music Awards. He appeared 3 timeson BBC TV’s Transatlantic Sessions in 2011, singing his own songs. He also sang the part of Orpheus for Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown show in Glasgow. His last album, To the Horizon, Sir, was recorded at the home studio of producer Michael Chorney in Vermont, and completed on his return to Scotland.
Gaurav Malaker and Avinash Kumar with hi-tech equipment
B.L.O.T. – an acronym for Basic Love Of Things – is a two-piece live audio-visual act from New Delhi founded by Gaurav Malaker (DJ, producer and founder of Qilla Records) and Avinash Kumar (designer, visual artist, founder of Quicksand Studio and VJ). The duo have traversed the globe, gigging and exploring urban culture through music, films, art, installations and projects, including co-founding their own pioneering, interdisciplinary festival UnBox (annually since 2011) and underground electronica label (Qilla Records).
Internationally they have performed at legendary venues like Tresor and Bar25 (Berlin), global festivals C/O Pop (Cologne), Electron Festival (Geneva), Berlin Music Week, Reeperbahn Festival (Hamburg) and Nuits Sonores in Lyon, and at London’s South Bank Centre. Closer to home, they play upward of a 100 gigs every year, while also consistently collaborating with a host of musicians and singers.
BLOT! has also re-imagined the electronic music agendas of brands such as Absolut, Puma, Adidas Originals and SuperDry, and they are supported by Allen & Heath.
Whether being featured in a pioneering international youth culture documentaries created by Cobra UK (2012), breathing fresh life into creative collaborations through the an audiovisual piece ‘Aaina‘ (2013) on TV show The Dewarists, live-scoring the silent movie classic ‘A Throw of Dice’ for the Goethe-Institut (2014), or just making good old dance music, BLOT! never fails to surprise in pursuit of a genre that can only be ascribed to them.
Both Gaurav and Avinash have diverse creative project experiences, and often facilitate workshops and present on panels on the electronic arts in India and abroad. They also write a popular column in The Sunday Guardian on the Indian music scene, while they continue to work towards pushing the boundaries of what electronic artists can, and should, do.
With a brand new genre-blending live set, a graphic novel, a new line of merchandise, and a spanking new sci-fi adventure video game in the making, as well as other diabolical plans to redefine music and visual experiences alike, 2014 seems to be…
“This full-length artist album is BLOT! going bananas, revelling in sounds and breaking boundaries in a manner that’s at once exciting and inspiring. “ – Rolling Stone Magazine
“Be it on the dancefloor or in the car, its an album that will shuffle proudly on your playlist”- Times Crescent