From Marc Weidenbaum Sent Thu, Sep 16th 1999, 22:00
Just wondering if anyone had the opportunity to attend the Hans-Joachim Roedelius concert at the Mermaid Lounge in New Orleans last night. It was really something. The opening act, "Tosko" or "Tasko," I believe, was a four-piece experimental group with everyone playing multiple instruments, aside from the electric guitarist, as far as I could see. This included small flutes, several keyboards, great trumpet, a drum kit, and a beautiful -- and, I assume, handmade -- bass-like instrument constructed out of metal and shaped like a giant star. Kind of like if Cost Plus made a National Steel Guitar. I came in fairly late in their set, which was an extended trading of small themes, treading that thin line between harmonic consonance and quiet sonic chaos. They also sang a bit -- "intoned" may be a better description. Sometimes simple syllables as accents, kind of like Hank Roberts the cellist does, and sometimes brief banter, with some humorous intent. Roedelius was just great, very much the man whose Cluster group was so intrinsic to the wealth of ambient (trance rock?) music during the '70s. It took him a good 15 or 20 minutes to set up, all by his lonesome. One big synth/sampler in front of him, some smaller devices to the side. I didn't take notes, so I can't name the models. He had these routed through a small mixer, along with several tape recorders and other devices, all laid out meticulously. He proceeded to move from snippets of classical compositions to driving backbeat stuff -- either juju, or a pop ersatz juju along the lines of Eno and Byrne's Bush of Ghosts -- all the while joining in on keyboard himself, with pale, simple tones, all minor key. The pieces sometimes swerved from one to another recklessly, and at other times with a mysterious grace; the labor was rudimentary -- he'd pop a headphone into one tape machine, cue it up, plug it into the mixer and let loose, but all with a craftsman's attention to detail. The crowd was fairly young, and he looked very much the professor up on stage by comparison, starched white shirt and grey-black pants -- he seemed to be saying, OK, now go home and do this yourself. I had to take off after midnight (some of us have to work) so I don't know how the whole thing played out, but I strongly suggest people check him out on tour if they have the opportunity. -Marc