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DJ Yoda’s ‘Magic Cinema Show’, Carling Academy, Tuesday 29th April

I entered the Zodiac Room at the Carling Academy to be greeted by a surreal scene. DJ Yoda and his uniquely developed decks were situated at the left of an empty stage. Projected onto the back wall was the ‘Magic Cinema Show’. The crowd were exposed to clips of images including Cartoons, Soaps, Films and Documentaries.  From the Simpsons and Sesame Street, to Physco and Star Wars: Yoda covered it all. These were then mixed with samples of famous Hip Hop, Jungle, Drum n Bass, 80s Pop and Reggae tracks.   

DJ Yoda is DJ and a VJ. He has helped create the special technology, the ‘Pioneer SMV-1000’, to scratch DVDs especially for the ‘Magic Cinema Show’ tour. He controls the array of images from the turntables he is mixing the music on. The range of influences on the visuals and music were diverse, but it is clear that Yoda has a soft spot for anything from the 80s. He juxtaposes light hearted children’s TV with old school, heavy Hip Hop beats. These tendencies were epitomised in the clip he showed of a kids’ TV programme called ‘Yo Gabba Gabba’ which features the old school rapper Biz Markie giving beat box lessons. Not the kind of thing you expect to be watching at a gig. The obscure samples Yoda used revealed to the audience what Duncan Beiny himself likes. It was an intimate show.

There was something very bizarre about the ‘Magic Cinema Show’. Maybe it was that the crowd didn’t really know whether to dance or watch. Despite mixing extremely danceable samples everyone tended to opt for the latter; captivated by the curious mix of visual clips. It was when prominent characters came onto the screen that a cheer would emanate from the audience.

Just like your average film, the show lasted 90 minutes. But this film did not have a beginning, middle and end. There was no apparent coherence to the order of musical and visual events. However, this was what made the show what it was. An extraordinary mix made it strangely brilliant.

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