Vision Fortune

I first ran into Vision Fortune at the Mazes single launch in June, and they were one of the ballsiest bands I’ve ever seen. Lit by a head-splittingly mental strobe, they basically blasted out weird sounding art rock for 20 minutes before finishing in an explosion of hazy feedback as the guitarist Austin Williams snaked his way through the more than impressed crowd. It was eccentric stuff for a band no-one had ever heard of.

A few hours later, and I'm on their Soundcloud page. The first track I listen to is 'Void Of The Valley' and I start to think about all the trippy videos I've seen in the past, as well as Albus Dumbledore's death and the desert. Funnily enough, these guys remind me of a drone-y Omar Souleyman, because I can't really understand the vocals that well – but that's part of the beauty of it. Thery're the sort of band who seems to get away with anything. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised to see a bunch of chanting monks popping up on track in the near future.

In fact Vision Fortune is quite drone-inspired in general; their slightly haunting chants circulate in my eardrums for a good while after the songs are finished, as if someone has managed to cross pollinate David Bowie with Sunn O))). After finishing listening to 'Black Coral' I can't stop thinking about what it would be like floating in space, mainly because I associate the word 'black' with space because space is literally a big black... space? Well, there's gas and stuff but I don't want to get into that…

Anyway, do check out their Soundcloud (in the most stable frame of mind you have) for more material from these South London drone-smiths. I’m not joking; these guys literally open new doors on perception. - Spoonfed

South London weirdos and SEXBEAT faves Vision Fortune have a pretty eerie/psychedelic sound. Visions of rotating mummy heads pop up whilst listening to them. The first time we saw them play at The Shacklewell Arms, we were mildly blown away. Must have been the strobes. Or the awesome kick-ass tracks.

Anyway, they’ve put up a few new tracks on their soundcloud. Check ‘em out if you like music and all that. - Sex Beat

I booked them based on the Eastern promise contained in a cryptic email, sounds beamed straight from Sun City, and reports of a transcendental live show drenched in feedback. It is the feedback that gives the first indication that Vision Fortune’s set has began, the main room of the venue being obscured by a black velvet curtain draped across the entrance; perhaps to intrigue the casual drinker in the main bar, perhaps to alienate. What We Do Is Secret.

The next indication is far more intrusive, as bright white light beams through the gap in the curtain and cuts sharp lines across the floor of The Green Door Store. I abandon my post on the door, walking into a room besieged by harsh strobe light and a wall of sound. Bewildered audience members struggle to adjust to the light as prolonged drone gives way to swelling psychedelia. Vision Fortune could comfortably sit alongside psychedelic contemporaries such as Leeds’ Hookworms but their hypnotic stomp comes from elsewhere; evoking influences as disparate as tambura-led drone and Eyeless In Gaza, less Spacemen 3 and more Blues Control.

Their set works as one continual composition, songs such as ‘Black Coral’ and ‘Void Of The Valley’ weaved in between menacing drone and feedback. Some audience members falter, driven to respite from the persistent abrasive strobe, others remain, drawn closer, reaping the rewards that a hardened resolve can provide.

Their recent single on Mannequin record distills their live show into a two-track psych burner; ‘Void Of The Valley’ is a personal highlight, drenched in saxophone and held-together by spiritual incantations, taking Vision Fortune ever further from Southern England and into the void. - 20 Jazz Funk Greats