From Bill VanLoo Sent Wed, Nov 11th 1998, 04:14
From Bill VanLoo Sent Wed, Nov 11th 1998, 04:14
Regarding the CR show last Thursday:
> the cleveland contingent (both of us) made the 180 mile jaunt to windsor to
> catch this show. thanks to a stack of good CD's, advanced radar detection
> technology and ample coffee and mountain dew, this was a totally painless
> drive and we arrived at the venue shortly before doors opened.
Respect to those traveling long distances for this! I had a feeling before the
show that it would be mostly hardcores in attendance...I was right.
> once inside the cozy thirteen below, we found an underground venue perfect
> for m-nus's weekly ambient outings and even better for a show from our
> berlin guests. solid brick and stone walls , low ceilings and tight
> bassbins gave indication that the dub would flow mighty. and it did.
No joke. I was in the coffee house that's directly above 13 Below, and Pole's
soundcheck was shaking the floor.
> clark warner warmed up the slowly arriving audience with a smooth and
> functional set that gradually transitioned from eno and namlook to
> aufenhalt (sp?) dynamo and burial mix. our faction was getting
> increasingly amped.
Amped is the right word. I had the beautiful experience of feeling the buzz from
the red wine I'd drunk at dinner morph into excitement at the music - very nice.
Clark played probably the best set I've _ever_ heard from him, and I'm a fan of
his DJing to begin with. Highlights were hearing "Life goes on" by Kenny Larkin
(damn, I love that track...a sublime track if ever there was one), the entire 14
minutes of "Shift" by Theorem (what a monster track), "At Les" by Carl Craig (it
put a grin on my face from the opening chords to the end), and one of the
Aufenthalt tracks by Dynamo (on Din, a CR-related label). He also dropped plenty
of German material ("Everything but stuff by the guys that were playing," Clark
said, which translated to Rhythm & Sound 001, a CR record, plus some other
stuff).
> stefan began to create, and the output was wave upon wave
> of deep subsonic bass. sounds appeared to be echo folded back upon
> themselves two , three and even four times; creating pulsing ripples of
> sound. he triggered sampled cellar doors of powerful low frequencies that
> shook the cones mightily. sampled simple synth and harmonica melodies
> added meloncholy beauty to the rush of sound. the trademark clicks and pops
> flowed in the background with coursing analog warmth. only minor powerbook
> technical difficulties plagued him during his first track, but after that
> it was flawless and awe inspiring sonics all the way. most of the tracks
> appeared to be new, and if the PA was any indication, the new EP will be
> one to jump on.
One thing I found interesting about Pole playing live was that Rene Lowe
(Vainqueur) seemed to be the one actually triggering sequences, while Stefan
"played" the mixing desk. I have a great respect for this form of doing things -
it continues perfectly in the tradion of engineers-turned-artists like Mad
Professor. The 2 tracks that really got me were "Raum Eins" (probably because I
recognized the pops & click immediately) and one of the tracks that he played
through, then slowed down to half or 3/4 speed & let ride, with a really slow
bassline that just sort of overwhelmed you. I'd been planning on waiting to pick
up his full-length until in comes out on Matador, but in speaking with Stefan
after the show he said it won't be out until January. I don't know if I can wait
that long ;)
> pete and rene then activated their setup, which appeared to consist
> primarily of a laptop, an R8, and e-mu sampler and mixing deck. Rene manned
> the e-mu, Peter the R8 and the mixer was community property. they spewed
> out a powerful set which, if they were the CR01 tracks, were radically
> reshaped versions. the music seemed to be a mosaic of all our favorite
> sounds and effects from the BC/CR/MS/BM/R&S back catalogue all incorporated
> into one performance. confounding stereo panning interwoven with filtered
> sweeps and clickity drum programming built a very rich groove. i was eyes
> closed mojo groovin' through most of their set. they would take chords and
> strings and compress, extrude and pinch them gradually until they became
> percussion. amazing. it was a lot of fun to watch them collaborate /
> negotiate realtime over proper board settings for desired sound shaping.
> for a first ever live PA, it appeared very well thought out and was
> received heartily.
This is really an excellent description (big bonus points for using the word
"extrude" in the context of sound engineering ;)). I can only add: the walls of
sound these 2 produced was truly inspiring. Every time I thought I knew when a
particular element would probably come in (a clap or hi-hat, for example), it
didn't seem to materialize. This says to me: there's way to much predictable
music, but the fact that their material worked so incredibly well says that it
doesn't have to be like that.
> big props to the local 313/idm posse who were in effect. it's always great
> to convert xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.xxx which you've respected for several years
> into warm smiles and handshakes. we received great local hospitality from
> bill vanloo, brian bickel, steve lammers, ian malbon & katy?, dale
> lawrence, jeff?, mike geiger and probably others which i'm sorry i forgot.
Likewise! Finally got to meet Lance (dammit, I wanted to buy you a drink! Next
time...) and Jeff Davis. Good to meet you, gents.
> i would kill for a copy of the DAT which they made last night.....
You and me both...
Cheers,
Bill / dj marathon
--
Sigma6 Interactive Media / http://www.sigma6.com
dj marathon: "fibre" up now @ http://www.flatplastic.com/