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Over the past few years Mike Simonetti and Johnny Jewel’s Italians Do It Better label, has been responsible for turning out some of the classiest italo-disco and achingly beautiful pop records around. With the ubiquity of disco nights now happening in London, I reckon if one person representing each and every night in London with the word disco (and please note, I am not including those weird School Disco nights) or cosmic in the title of their night, turned up, then Koko would have sold out three times over.

Given the integral part IDIB played in the resurgence of the genre, that the venue is nowhere near full, perhaps tells us something about people and the bandwagons they get on. Whatever, this gig is disappointingly quiet. Adding to the flat buzz (at least for me) was the fact that Twisted Wires were pulled from the bill. Their Colder music adds a malevolent edge to the IDIB roster and it would have brought something different to this night.

Though, I am being spoiled here. We still have Desire, Glass Candy and Lindstrom, with Simonetti slicing between the acts with slices of vinyl. Despite this embarrassment of musical riches, the night doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts.

First up are Desire followed by Glass Candy, linked by the prolific production glue that is Johnny Jewel (also of The Chromatics).  Despite the relative newness of Desire, their songs are coated so completely in an aura of timelessness, that they already seem like they have been around for years. Particularly, Dans Mes Reves and Don’t Call, which swoons cinematically.

Any tender feelings induced by this are forgotten about 0.2 seconds after Ida No takes the stage. Whilst working her way through Glass Candy back catalogue she leaps around the stage with a persona that falls somewhere between Pris from Blade Runner and a sultry keep-fit instructor, personifying the italo spirit.
If there is a problem here, it is that the music is played from a mixture of synthesizer and CD deck, which takes something away from the overall feeling. The same goes for Lindstrom, who despite playing everything from Mighty Girl to I Feel Space does so behind the glow of the Apple. Now, I’m not expecting Glass Candy, Desire or Lindstrom to turn up with a 12-piece cosmic orchestra (though that would be special), but I think this whole thing would work a lot better in a club, rather than the distinctly indie-schmindy surrounds of Koko.

Patrick McFadden