Rhythmholic

Far too often, a 'live' dance music set just ends up involving a po-faced bloke standing in front of a laptop for an hour. Not so Frivolous, who enlivens his stage performances with an array of homemade instruments and circuit-bent electronics, along with a telephone handset that he uses to interject occasional vocals. It'd be gimmicky if it didn't fit so well with the music of this Vancouver-born, Berlin-based producer, who inhabits the fertile outer realms of the house scene, where all kinds of wonkiness are permitted. Known to his mum as Daniel Gardner, Frivolous started out as a classical pianist before plunging into the dance scene, while his formal education in electronics has also had obvious benefits. His new album, Meteorology, was produced on a remote Pacific Ocean island, where Gardner had intended to live with his long-term girlfriend - until she dumped him by email the day before she was due to fly out.