AL WOOTTON

Binary @ Kongs, Cardiff

Sat 8 Feb

“We are delighted to welcome him to Cardiff for the first time,” write Binary of Al Wootton, headline DJ for their third night to date. The assertion in that sentence is only accurate with a stretched technicality, though: before Al Wootton played out as Al Wootton, he was best known as Deadboy, under which name he released a solid body of 12”s on labels like Numbers, Ten Thousand Yen and Local Action, and generally kept busy in the mephedrone-choked lairy post-dubstep scene of the early 2010s. Deadboy played Cardiff’s now-defunct Buffalo in 2014, indeed I’m pretty sure I previewed it, but tears in the rain and all that.

Fans of Deadboy’s output who’ve removed their eyes from the ball may be pleased to hear that Wootton’s (relatively recent) reversion to his birth name has not altered his sound vastly. His latest EP – Body Healthy, on his own label Trule, also a new gambit – tries a steppers dub vibe on for size, but marries it to some large techno/garage rhythms which I daresay would kill through big speakers, or in Undertone’s grimey-til-the-end basement.

Binary only debuted in October, but judging by this night and its DJ supporting cast of Tywi, Jeeves and P-Rail, look well up for it.

Admission: £6-£8. Info: www.kongsbars.com (NG)