Leftfield's Neil Barnes in concert playing clasic album Leftism in its entirety.
Leftfield's Neil Barnes in concert playing clasic album Leftism in its entirety.
When I call Leftfield's Neil Barnes he's just got in from a lovely stroll through Devon's turbulent, but scenic, moors.
"It's beautiful, much like a smaller version of the South Island," he says. "Smaller... but just as wild. Very cold and wintry. I come down here to clear my head."
If that sounds peaceful, think again.
"I've been listening to banging techno," he laughs.
We're talking because tonight at the Powerstation Barnes will be leading his six piece band through Leftfield's classic 1995 album Leftism. It's one of the defining British electronic records of the era, most notable for the way it pulled influeunce and sounds from different cultures, genres and musical styles and found a way to make it not just all work, but sound seamless.
Not that closed minds weren't confused by the album. House ravers at the time weren't accustomed to hearing flutes, reggae horns, or a sneering John Lydon over their four-to-the-floor bangers.
"A lot of our peers said we'd overproduced it, "Barnes says. "We thought that was really funny. That's what you say when you just don't get something."
Ahead of its time then, and even now all these years later, Leftism remains a fantastic listen. It's various sounds, which call on world music as much as 303-driven acid bass lines and electronic blips and bleeps, and journey through shifting genres and moods make it a tour de force through an idiosyncratic sonic world.
"It's almost indescribable as a record, you can't describe it's style. It was called 'tech house', 'intelligent house'… I don't know. It's not even a house album," he laughs. "Some of it's really psychedelic. 20th Century Poem is an attempt to make a psychedelic Beatles record. It goes backwards in the second half. No one's really got onto that. But it doesn't sound like anything. That's it strength. Bringing together all these different influences."
He says he was "dubious" about performing Leftism in its entirety at first, but then came to realise it would be "adventurous" to do something he had never done.
"I've performed tracks individually but to put it all together from beginning to end was a strong artistic statement to make. And that's why I did it."
He also says it's a fond farewell to the album that "nearly killed us both," he says referencing former member Paul Daley.
"I really don't think I'm gonna perform these song much, if at all, again," he says. "This is a nice opportunity to say goodbye to it for me. I'm never gonna do Leftism again."
Putting the show together proved a nervy experience. As many of the songs had never been performed live all the original sequencing and sampling was still on the original 3.5inch floppy discs that the duo had used back in the 90s. Extracting it required the use of heavy duty power tools and a steady hand.
"It was a nerve racking experience, we had to drill into the corner of the discs," he explains. "The discs were all formatted for different samplers, so to get them to work with the sampler that we've got now we had to drill a hole into the bottom left hand corner of the disc to get them playing. It was the only way we could get the information into the samplers."
Despite being electronic the Leftfield live experience is a full band gig. Barnes says six musicians plus vocalists. He assembled as many original performers to take part in the tour as he could, but one in particular couldn't make the shows.
"John Lydon hasn't done any of it," Barnes says. "He was invited to do it, obviously, I really wanted him to do it and I really tried to get him to do it, but he just didn't want to do it. I tried to get everyone involved that had been in it. But we've constructed a live version of Open Up which is brilliant, it's the highlight of the show but John's not there. I can't explain it you just have to see it."
Leftfield has a reputation for being one of the loudest acts on the planet. Will the subs be thumping tonight?
"We'll be as loud as we're able to be," he laughs. "I broke all the rules in London we were well over the legal limit. Wherever we can get away with it. We push it. We're always the loudest band. We know how to get the best out of any system. We'll be loud and we'll be quality."
Then, from the peace and quiet of the Devon moors Neil Barnes says, "It bangs live. I can assure you of that."
