Nautiluss

Nautiluss, the solo moniker of ex-Thunderheist member Graham Douglas Bertie, started off by playing material from his excellent Alpha EP on Turbo Recordings, ramping up into a seamless set of material blending house, techno and bass. Bertie (aka Graham Zilla) is, along with Montrealer Jacques Greene, one of Canada's best bass music producers. At one point, he played some wonky synthwave with blocky beats and an ethereal-sounding female guest vocalist, introduced just as "my friend Ali" (known as ALX), who, with her ethereal vocal style, initially sounded like Julianna Barwick but added lyrics to subsequent tracks. The sensual, retro-futuristic synth work underneath lent some added texture to these tracks. The third track with ALX was a real highlight, with Nautiluss even adding some harmonized backing vocals himself, sounding almost like Soft Metals or like a song from the Drive soundtrack if it weren't so skewed. Helping dish out a beautiful mixture of synthwave and post-dubstep stylings. Ali went offstage and Graham explained it was first time they had performed together live, and then welcomed her back on for one last track as a mini-encore. Delivering a fantastic set, Nautiluss didn't drop a beat.