From bloch Sent Sun, May 9th 1999, 13:38
From bloch Sent Sun, May 9th 1999, 13:38
dig_it was the name of the event, fitting in with the various festivals which have been running in Manchester for the past couple of weeks. Upper Campfield Market was the venue; the last thing I'd seen there was a New Contemporaries thing with most of the "Young British Artists" including Hirst, Wearing etc. a few years ago. An odd choice and I think it was the main reason for the lack of atmosphere, reminiscent of some of the more pretentious London events. In the same venue was the Luminarium, a sort of disorientating non-bouncy bouncy castle for deadened rave types. Actually, it was good but I think it's intended for a specific audience. Sand were on when we came in. They didn't seem particularly committed to what they were doing. Then a DJ, either Kieran Hebden from Fridge or Matt Thompson - they were alternating. Then there was a combined lightshow/soundtrack from The Light Surgeons, notable mainly for the inclusion of lots of 1980s videogames (Battlezone, Robotron, Tempest etc.). They know their audience. Second time I've seen "Graham Massey's Toolshed Allstars". Hmm. Beards and Stroking with chins. Massey was really *digging in* at times, as Thurston Moore might say. Matt Thompson was next, with a couple of Boards tunes and Second Bad Vilbel (which made a nice accompaniment to my time in the Luminarium). Eventually Squarepusher and his band appeared. The latter comprised: a DJ, who expended more energy on maintaining his herbal cigarettes than anything else; someone crouching down with percussion that I couldn't really see; 2 drummers; a blind saxophone player; someone "playing" two long stretches of piano wire suspended in the air; a Man Who Fell To Earth-lookalike playing, well, I'll come back to him and Mr. Tom Jenkinson on bass, spring reverb, sampler and MS-20. At this point, I shall quote the concise summary offered by one of my co-attendees: "Otherwise entitled Music to make you appreciate Silence" I'd been advised that the previous performance in Sheffield was improvised and that seemed to be the case here too. Sqpr was clearly the leader - the other players took their cue from him when he went off on a manic solo or slowed down. Whatever he's doing, he is a compelling performer. Someone made a comparison with Miles Davis from 1971. The Bowie-like bloke (costume with dangling tubes) had a laptop, sampler and other machines, and used them to process his Vocalisations. Sometimes too Cleo Laine-like, occasional outbursts of human beatbox which were a highlight. The piano wire man made some very strange sounds. There were brief moments when it seemed like they were in pursuit of the same goal, mini-tunes, but for too much of the time it lacked focus. That's the essence of improvisation I suppose, but I couldn't find a reasonable reply to the objection that it was isolated sounds rather than music. Sqpr's wish to do something more interesting live than accompanying a DAT is laudable and understandable and I was glad to have seen the performance, but I don't think I need to see it again. Maybe I'm just not Jazz Weirdy-Beardy enough. An interesting spectacle but far from the most enjoyable Squarepusher performance I've seen*. adam * - the winner in that category is his Leadmill set three years ago - incredible