 Words
by Weili
Photos by Feng
Dark. Twisted. Driving. Fat and punchy broken
beats. Those were the sound they left us a year
ago at Zoukout2. And to tell you the truth, it
was still looping in my head as I stepped into
Phuture to catch the long awaited return of the
definitive Koma
& Bones. This time round,
with a hardier dance floor instead of the sands
of Tanjong beach, and a more compact sound in
the confines of Phuture, I was all set for an
incredible time with my trusty sneakers. And from
what I saw at Phuture, so was everyone!
Playing host on this occasion was none other
than Sirens, Zouk's very own breaks orientated
night, and its resident Tony
Tay. Sirens is the one night Zouk
throws, at all its break beat lovers, as this
quarterly event brings in not only well known
international artists but celebrates its local
break beat talents.
Stepping into Phuture at around half past 11,
I was very pleased to find the fashionably late
crowd  already
bouncing to the beats. And who else do we see
at the console other than resident Tony Tay, dishing
out only the best tunes in the breaks scene. With
his usual flawless mixing and programming, Tony
directs the atmosphere straight into a "hands
in the air" mood with a warm up set fit for
main set action.
Tony ends with EK's excellent mix of "After
time" by Brothers of Dub mixed into Koma
& Bones' remix of New Order's "Confusion"
at around ten minutes past midnight. From the
cheers and screams it's evident that the crowd
is all hyped up to see Koma and Bones in action.
Chris (Bones) takes over promptly, first teasing
the crowd with a mellower breaks sound, but following
up immediately with a series of funky and progressive
style of breaks, keeping the atmosphere at a consistently
high level. Meanwhile, Andy (Koma) was constantly
adding scratches and vocal samples into the set
beside him.
An hour later, Andy (Koma)
takes over and brings the feel to a different
high. Sounding more like the Koma &
Bones we heard during last year's Zoukout2,
Andy drops familiar tracks like their latest
Rewired mix of the ever popular "Powercut",
BLIM's remix of Bill Hamel's "Fazon
Frequency", Hybrid's remix of "Clubbed
to Death", Koma & Bones' remix
of DB+'s "That thing" and their
very own "Morpheus". His set displays
more of a dark yet driving type of breaks,
with extremely tight and punchy beats and
these dark and driving basslines that go
very well with the crowd, leaving the punters
craving for more. Andy occasionally brings
the tempo of the set down just to give the
sweaty clubbers a little rest time. But
it only lasts no more than a few tracks,
before he brings it right back up, blasting
the crowd with irresistible tracks that
I cant recognize but sure can move to.
Only later do I find out that they were
playing some of their new tracks from their
forthcoming second album. Well all I can
say is, with a crowd responds like that,
their new tracks are bound to be massive
hits!
Reputable for their wickedly awesome remixes,
they sure don't disappoint their fans, dropping
their much talked about remix of Xpress
2's "Smoke Machine" and finally
finishing with their remix of Beber &
Tamra's "Traveling On".
With the energy on the dance floor still
at a peak by closing time, Koma & bones
leave the crowd with no choice but to ask
for more. I leave Phuture with a different
ringing in my ears, the ringing of ranting
punters shouting "ONE MORE!! ONE MORE!"
Big thanks to Zouk and Tony Tay for their
hospitality. |
| Q&A
with K&B |
| The
Frontal lads caught
up with Chris and
Andy from Koma &
Bones the day after
their gig!
Frontal:
So you guys must
be tired. Just got
in yesterday right?
At about 8:30pm,
right before the
set.
Andy: Yeah, we had
a 7 and a half hour
flight from Brisbane.
Frontal: You played
a slightly different
set this time round.
A funky one oppose
to a darker banging
one at Zoukout.
Chris:
Yeah I think the
scene’s changed
a bit anyway, it’s
been a year since
Zoukout. And we
brought tracks out
just to play at
Zoukout the last
time round and these
tracks have only
just been released.
This time round,
we tried out some
stuff from our forthcoming
album. And it’s
the first time we’d
played it anywhere.
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