The Nomad at Galatos

By REBECCA BARRY

It was several murky minutes past the witching hour when the Nomad gently woke Galatos into consciousness.

The room was still humming with the previous group's soporific soundscapes, and he quickly dispelled them with clipped beats and odd bleeps.

Reminiscing to tracks from Movement, his minimalist drum'n'bass-heavy first album, the few punters took advantage of the floor space, twirling as if boneless, and not giving into that genre's jerky, running-man dance style.

The album translated better live, too, thanks to the sheer prominence of the bass, which could hold any suspended note or broken beat and send it pinging back into key and time like a stretched rubber band.

MC Antsman, hip-hop scene regular and the cheery face of the Nomad's "Fresh Produce" crew, showed his appreciation for nearly every track.

"This one's my favourite," he'd repeat when he wasn't adding his hypnotic ragga poetry and softly monotonous rap.

It was a disappointingly short trip through the Nomad's breakbeat repertoire, however, as was his brief run through his excellent sophomore album, Second Selection, but it soon became evident why. He just couldn't wait to show off tracks from the new album, Step 4th, and broke into a grin as a wall of noise much lusher and all-encompassing surged from the speakers.

Open Your Eyes, Powered by the Sun and Destinations blended the Christchurch producer's trademark earthy groove with beguiling melodies, each pushing a smooth musical theme to breaking point.

And while their parts didn't differ wildly, young vocalists Lotus Hartley and Tokyo Mae each brought to the stage a sensual vibe entirely of their own, often cooing a mere temptation of a phrase which the Nomad would bend and echo into the next.

Touches of funk on Waves livened up what could otherwise be mistaken for a Moby track, its cyclic vocals and minor piano chords reflecting the backdrop's strange digital caterpillar inching its way nowhere.

But a violinist plucking the strings on Just One Step seemed a perfectly unpredictable way to end the set.