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It was doubtful as to how this one would play out. The venue’s location amid a scattering of unfashionable old-fashioned pubs placed the night’s strong and interesting line-up a little too far from student-central and trendyville to be likely to attract the numbers they deserved to draw. £1.30 for a pint of strong cider had these pubs packed out but the clientele this attracted were mostly too close to retirement age and the blissful indifference of inebriation to care much for a night of break-driven party hiphop. Also, while Fiddlers is a popular live venue whose publicity says it prides itself on the variety of music to which it plays host, the leaning is mostly toward being part of the punk, rock and live music circuits than being a regular boom bap habitat.
At best taken for granted, at worst dismissed as “quirky” purveyors of cheeky yet inconsequential theme-driven wordplay, everybody thinks they’ve got The Aspects pegged. They’re wrong. Truth is, after suffering years’ of erroneous pigeon-holing and unjust black-balling, The Aspects have chosen to turn such adversity to their own advantage by becoming UK hiphop’s least conservative outfit - and the genre is all the richer thanks to them. Like one of their choruses says, “when you’re from nowhere, there’s no way back and these perennial stylistic refugees habitually opt for unpredictable innovation and genuine expression over ever playing it safe or “keeping it real.” The Aspects sophomore album’s unprecedented honesty and courageous insights have proven challenging to the average Head and still they keep moving onward and upward. Their three CD releases so far sound nothing like each other and as if the melodic, psychedelic sound of Mystery theatre was not a sufficiently radical break from the drab UK hiphop norm, I was informed by el-Eye that a Rock Rap project is done and dusted (and I don’t think he was joking). On record, The Aspects have proven to be an unpredictable shape-shifting outfit and accordingly they are something of an unknown quantity as a live outfit from one gig to the next. This night would be no exception.
Once the Aspects’ concise routine had run its course, the night became more of a party than an event and how do you review the cheery chaos of a party? People danced…people drunk…I lost my hat…the night’s second deejay, Stapleton got on and played a series of welcoming ‘70s funk and r&B with minimal line-fader mixing. Headliner Peanut Butter Wolf then stepped up the pace further with an eclectic set, hotter than those raw chili peppers he’d requested on his rider. Interaction between Wolf and his audience could not have been more different than the same crowd’s initial response to The Aspects. Attendance seemed to multiply when Peanut Butter took to the stage and the now rammed crowd’s disposition had long since flipped from timidity to temerity. Proving a cause of much consternation for venue management and security, Mr Wolf was glad to share the small stage with the horde of carousing revellers who were all still mad for it when I had to leave at around 1.40am.
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Aspects, Peanut Butter Wolf Bristol Fiddlers 
To my surprise, upon my arrival at around 9pm, it was already difficult to find somewhere to sit and the dancefloor, sandwiched between the bar and a small stage, was already seeing some action. A gang of quality acts were in attendance including Mr Monk, Turroe (of Fat Club) and DJ Format (to whose girlfriend Becky I must say “thanks” for taking the snaps you see in this piece). Despite there being this wealth of local talent however, The Aspects were the only people on the bill who would themselves be performing (that’s as opposed to playing other peoples’ records). The night’s first deejay, Johnston, wheeled out a decent stack of gems from the late ‘80s/early ‘90s by the likes of NWA and BDP and this helped to foster a relaxed, friendly vibe and much good conversation. In light of the positive reception of the warm-up set, a night of quality music for a swelling rabble of Knowledgeable hiphop lovers not too scared to smile and/or dance looked to be on the cards
Maybe they were capitalising on the recent buzz surrounding Bjork’s Madulla or may be they had only been paid enough for two-and-a-half people to perform? Whatever the case, Aspects stepped up to offer an “unplugged” set. Unlike Arrested Development’s nail in the coffin of the credibility of that MTV franchise, The Aspects made a genuine effort to translate their electronic music into an acapella form. This routine involved probe and el eye on the mics (plugged in) and monkey moo on a mic and Boss loop-station doing his thing. Rather than fixating on performances of intense tongue-twister tracks like lead single Impact, the trio instead took the more laid-back, roomy cuts and worked them up into new forms. A ferocious rendition of the El-Eye dominated droppin’ drums served as a strident introduction to the impressively instantaneous intuitive bond between the two emcees and the complementary interplay between their two markedly dissimilar styles. Whereas an amped-up El-Eye’s rockstar roar tore through tracks, Probe Mantis flexed a more measured, sardonic clipped twang that bounced between Moo’s ample clicks, splutters and puffs. During this duel of the visceral and the droll, the two would bob & weave in and out of each others’ lyrics with appropriate adlibs and emphases; making the most of the limited performance area. Audience appreciation was instant if worryingly polite. This is the first gig I’ve ever attended where the act has been compelled to assure their bashful fans that it’s OK to come a little closer to the stage. Such apprehensiveness was fast dispelled and the once huddled congregation soon spread out to dance to an all too brisk selection of the latest album’s beat-box based bangers and a few acapella interpretations of other Mystery Theatre treats such as way back. The trio did their thing with gusto but it grew apparent that the set’s playlist was hastily assembled from whatever they could remember from the new album. The absence, from their playlist, of any old material was sad. It would have been interesting to have heard acapella interpretations of Witchcraft or My Genre. I was also disappointed to find they didn’t try an acapella version of El-Eye’s poignant imagining of a nervous breakdown man under the sea. As unusual and unsettling as this track may be, I could think of no better context for a live performance of this already acoustic piece than this intimate venue and this night’s evidently sensitive clientele.
Even if, as I was lead to believe, the set was unrehearsed, there were no gaps, slacks or slip-ups to be picked out of this watertight performance. At least one of the three had to be doing something at all times and, confirming that The Aspects are beyond comparison with most of their peers (both on and off records), “wave your hands in the air” FILLER-patter was left on the shelf. In the absence of a deejay or dat to offer a continuous backing track, there was no coasting or slacking allowed. When the rage vs. brains emcee partnership wanted to take a breather, Moo got his chance to shine centre stage. First came the hummed bassline…then the beatbox beat and once Moo was happy with that, he’d slap vocal scratch solos over the top of his layered treats. Given his deceptively artless showmanship and disarming presence, I am surprised Moo has not yet made like Rahzel to dabble in some emceeing of his own. Monkey Moo’s use of the loop-station to pile on beats, bass and vocal scratching had gone smoothly…perhaps too smoothly. The loop station lacks any automated beat-sync facility so Moo was playing it all by ear and after twenty minutes of unproblematic use, the group’s grand finale suffered a few false starts stemming from Moo’s distraction by especially enthusiastic members of the crowd. Thankfully Probe mantis and El-Eye kept things moving and managed to subdue their audience with some good-willed Moo-mocking which gave him the momentary breathing space sufficient to lay the track’s foundation. For some reason, the strong Seen track is a hidden bonus on the album and if audience response is any indication, it at least deserves to be a forthcoming B, if not A side.
No sooner than had Monkey finally layered up the track and Probe Mantis had discharged his homonymic wordplay, this far too short set was over…. The guys knew their material inside out and didn’t need to try much at all to maintain their jovial rapport with the home crowd. In fact, The Aspects’ only noticeable call & response banter was confined to them bigging-up the rest of the bill during the closing moments of their set.
