Toby Kaar and Moths @ The Pavillion, Cork

As Hurricane Katia bore down upon our small island nation last Sunday night, some of our island’s best up and coming electronic artists took to the stage of Cork’s Pavilion for an evening of smashing tunes to help brush off the weather. In the small, green-tinted bar, a respectable crowd rushed in out of the rain and gathered to watch the rising stars of Moths and Toby Kaar shine.

Fresh off a show at the Electric Picnic the weekend before last, Moths a.k.a. Jack Colleran, opened proceedings with what some deign to call ‘chill wave’. Relying on subtle background synths, and effected lead lines, his sound seemed to fill the whole venue, seeping into every corner, getting under peoples skin. Known for his remixes of artists like Interpol and the Passion Pit, as well as his own laid back electro, he had the whole venue grooving.

Returning to the stage after DJing for most of the afternoon, headliner Toby Kaar sought to round off the evening. Having come to prominence over the last six months, after lighting a spark with his remix of Nouvueanoise’s track Cinnte, this was a sort of a homecoming for Toby. He’d played in Cork a number of times in the past few months, playing support to Gold Panda, and taking a slot on the FMC Tour, but this was his first headliner since his breakthrough and the home crowd were out in force.

There’s a serious groove to Toby’s music, which is a lot more immediate than some of Moths material, leading to a nice contrast in sound on the night. But even more so, there’s a groove to Toby himself. Hunched over his laptop and controllers, he sways back and forth, shakes, shudders and jumps along with the crowd as he kicks out the jams. His set consisted of a lot of his more well known tunes, and a few newer pieces that will be sure to appear on his debut album which, we all hope, will be out soon.

The quality of music on show in the Pav on Sunday was superb. The now, not-so-underground, electronic artists of Ireland can hold themselves up with the best of them. A bright future awaits Irish electronica and all of its shining stars.

Check out Moths and Toby Kaar on their respective sites here, and here. Catch Moths at Dublin’s Absolut Fringe Club with RSAG on Sept 22^nd, and see Toby in the Roisín Dubh on the same night.

Published on Drop-D.ie - September 14th, 2011