A CERTAIN RATIO
Formed in 1978 with a core line-up of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson, adding Tony Quigley, Denise Johnson and Matt Steele for touring and studio contributions, Manchester’s A Certain Ratio embraced the ethic and culture of the late seventies post-punk explosion, sounding like nothing else around them and refusing to fit in.
Hailed universally as pioneers of what became known as “punk funk” thanks to the success of ‘Shack Up’ on both sides of the Atlantic, their sound is not easily pigeon holed and their influence can never be understated. The band introduced the avant-garde elements of funk, jazz, electronics, tape loops and technology to the pop song, wrapping it in a post punk aesthetic, adding great clothes and the coolest haircuts.
Having influenced generations of musicians – from Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem, Happy Mondays, Franz Ferdinand, ESG, Factory Floor, The Orielles, Sink Ya Teeth and Andrew Weatherall, The Guardian’s Dave Simpson paid tribute to the band’s Cult Hero status: “Once you start listening to A Certain Ratio, it’s difficult to stop”.
As far as Martin is concerned, the group has always been in a sense of motion and now find themselves in an ideal place where the band’s history and future are in perfect coalescence, “1980 doesn’t feel that long ago to me,” he says. “Where we’re at now just feels like a continuation.”
NIK COLK VOID
Nik Colk Void is an electronic musician and artist with a vast reputation in experimental
shapeshifting and collaboration. Void’s interests lie in the unconventional encounters
with her tools, both analogue and digital, as a means of expression. Her key
instruments are voice, guitar, and modular euro-rack systems engaging in a new
language using extended technique and cut-up sampling through synthesis. As a
result, the blends of her compositional tracks lean towards techno, club,
experimental and noise.
UK based, Void has produced eight acclaimed studio albums with her musical
groups Factory Floor (Gabriel Gurnsey & Dominic Butler), Carter Tutti Void (Chris
Carter & Cosey Fanni Tutti) and NPVR with the late Peter Rehberg, releasing via
Mute, DFA, Blast First, Editions Mego and Industrial.
Her solo debut Bucked Up Space is set for release via Editions Mego on 8 April 2022.
YOUTH SECTOR
‘So much energy, I really love that song so much’ - Sir Elton John
Youth Sector first emerged with 2020’s debut EP Mundanity, they immediately marked themselves out as a band capable of pulling at life’s chaotic threads with an un-nerving dexterity. They employ a playful tension, often loaded with the threat of unpredictability that, in a flurry of newly-adopted funk and groove elements – and under the influence of art-rock greats of yore - comes spiralling to life in a carnival of leaping synths and ricocheting basslines that have a habit of exploding into lawless,
free-wheeling, joyous abandon.
The last few months have taken Youth Sector around the UK and Europe, supporting bands including Courting and The Ninth Wave, as well as performing at numerous festivals. It has given them a fresh opportunity to tighten their gaze on the world around them. While it is fair to say that thematically the band takes great pleasure in skewering
the concept of a Cruel Britannia - they themselves viewing a world strewn with inequality and a failing-upwards political class - the Brighton art-rock 5-piece never revel in bleakness. They manage to twist everyday narratives into music that is quite the opposite; upbeat, and full of positive energy and earworm melodies.
The band released their incredibly strong debut EP Mundanity (Via Young Poet Records) in 2020, preceded by a string of drip-fed singles with artwork by the legendary Storm Studios (Pink Floyd, The Mars Volta, Muse). On February 18th, Youth Sector will release their second EP ‘Adult Contemporary’ (via Family Values).
Tickets can be purchased for each individual event or a Sound + Vision festival pass can be purchased allowing entry to every event over the 3 days of Sound + Vision Cambridge.