U-turn
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June 12, 2005
Dada @ Warp
LateNite Organ Delight (Photo: RV)A strange combination last Friday when I lost my virginity as a concertgoer in the new Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. It was a very good concert, but I left the hall in a middle of a piece because it was HORRIFIC.
This concert was preceded with a lot of buzz. The London Sinfonietta together with music label Warp. The highlight this evening according to the program notes appeared to be true: George Antheils's Ballet Méchanique with a 1924 film by Fernand Léger and Man Ray.
With Anteil's music being an over the top sort of Stravinsky one can only admire the inventiveness of people like Léger and Man Ray. All videoclips this evening had the support of modern video-editing equipment where Léger and Man Ray had to invent everything they did with primitive means. Their film, in combination with the splendid performance conducted by Jurjen Hempel, made a deep impact impression where most other empty commercial like films failed to make a punch.
Jamie Lidell (I like his examples on Warp's website a lot better!) was at the other of the spectrum this evening. This was the part I left the hall. He lost me when the music became nothing more than electronic squeaking so loud it was hurting my ears.
Here we have another electronic artist who thinks that if something is possible it must be used.
Sigh.
After having escaped Lidell's sonic battlefield this peculiar Australian guy Thomas Meadowcroft (see photo) was playing 70s music with a stuffed dog at his feet, underlining this was a night with impression shifts at warp speed.
Posted by Renske at 14:25 UTC | permanent link