Kid Carpet
– JABEZ CLEGG, MANCHESTER –
Looking around the upstairs room at tonight’s venue, I am sad to say, the numbers are very low. I find this all the more shocking, as I have had the joy of seeing Kid Carpet on two other previous occasions, both of which were packed out. The first two bands on had brought their own contingency with them, but by now, had either left or retired to the downstairs bar, seemingly not knowing or caring who they were sharing tonight’s bill with.
Ed’s music has been described as kiddy disco punk, now this may give the impression that the sound he creates is for the lower end of the age scale, but this could not be further from the truth. A contributing factor for this description could lie in his use of Fisher Price toys/instruments, such as children’s plastic guitars and tape recorders as well as his table top of samplers, effects and miniature keyboards.
Since his live debut at Bristol’s Watershed Media Centre in 2003, he has built up a fan-base that comprises of Willy Mason, Badly Drawn Boy, Mylo and The Presidents of the United States of America. On his latest E.P “Make It Look Good”, there is a great Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobious Pip remix and also a Japanese version of “Can’t Stop The Pop” featuring Chi from The Go! Team on vocals. His video to “Failed World Record Attempt” managed to clock up over 19,000 hits in just ten days.
Most other artists may be disheartened by the lack of audience and be tempted to give an under par performance, but this does not seem to be in Ed’s nature, as he proceeds to give us a thirteen song set, whilst throughout, bounding around onstage in a manner that would put the late James Brown to shame.
The second song in is “I Don’t Want To Fall In Love With You” which is a look in his usual comical manner at the downfalls of relationships. After this is “Green And Pleasant Land”, an ode to the beauty of this fine isle we live in, as observed from the inside of a bus on his travels. In “Ace Like Space” he gives a list of chat up lines that we may have all well used whilst at nursery school. Then it’s time for “Employee Of The Month”, a song that any person who is in a dead end job can easily relate to. When we get to his take on Van Halen’s Jump, his energy is now infectious and you feel like using the sadly available space to do as instructed by the song title.
After the show I ask him not to bypass Manchester on his next tour of duty due to tonight’s turn out, which I hope he certainly does not. So if you are ever in need of a night out that will keep you smiling for days on end, please heed my advice and check out the one man electro fun machine that is Kid Carpet.
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‘Accidental Editor’ of Silent Radio from its inception in 2009 through to 2020. None of this was planned; I’ve never been in a band, never been part of the ‘music scene’ and never expected to be the gaffer of a music website with loads of dedicated music loving writers. I bought my first record when I was 8 and haven’t stopped buying since. I love crate digging for bizarre and weird stuff, but equally happy ploughing through press releases looking/listening for something I’ve never heard before.
