Thanks (once again) to Twee Death another fascinating concert was happening in Vancouver. I don't think I can attend other concerts anymore unless they are put on by Twee Death and at planetariums. I've seen Barn Owl at the Anza Club thanks to them, a place where my animation studio often holds company functions, a place where I have been horribly drunk, pulling my future wife out of the basement dance floor for unprecedented innapropriateness, and many other adventures both awkward and triumphant. I never wrote anything about that Barn Owl show, but wow, that was one of the best I've seen in recent years. Those guys are in it to win it. No scrubs those two. With that show I identified a pattern: Twee Death care about music, and I cannot help but go to all their shows.
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| No UFOs |
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On this night we had
Demdike Stare and
The Sight Below and
No UFOs playing in A PLANETARIUM. Or as the locals call it, H.R. Macmillan Space Center. I bought two tickets thinking I'd get a friend to come with me. I was alone at the last show I'd been to, and that really isn't my favorite thing. After dangling the carrot, I got my friend Shawn (who plays for Siskiyou among other things) to accept a free ticket. Why do I pay for other people? I dunno. I'm a dad. Habits die hard. Shawn, the fellows from Hierarchies, and some other chums biked it to the planetarium. Old Nayt took the Subaru, alone. I had thought about biking, too, but the prospect of chugging up all those hills at 1am just isn't something I care to tackle anymore. There's grey in my beard.
Upon arriving I knew no one, as usual. I decided to get some money so I drove to an ATM. On my way to the car I ran into Samuel Macklin (who I had just seen play a show as Connect_icut a few weeks prior). I didn't realize who he was at first, which made our conversation about our respective children and personal origins all the more fun. Originally from the UK, he lives here now, and his dry and fatalistic sense of humor hadn't betrayed him. He jested (rather seriously) that he knew very little about music, but maintained it as a hobby. I then proceeded to totally ace a parallel parking job. He said he respected Loscil quite a bit, to which I agreed. I mentioned how he (Scott Morgan) also had kids and how between the three of us it was strange that we were amongst the night people. We were on similar wavelengths. It was an enjoyable, light hearted and random meeting. Money obtained, we returned to the venue.
Eventually my friends arrived (I have friends!) and I was introduced to some other people. I just realize more and more that many people bore me, so not meeting people is a defense mechanism against being annoyed by small talk. Who wants to chit chat at the Demdike Stare concert?
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| No UFOs |
The show began with No UFOs. Having the stars slowly rotating while a giant screen projection floated through space really was epic. His music was a mixture of percussive obfuscation and annoying repetitions. The screen sometimes appeared to be three dimensional, as if we were following its journey through sub space. That was an awesome visual trick several of us agreed we were playing on ourselves. Sometimes the music hit a vein that really got me into it, but No UFOs seemed to continuously sabotage my interest. Then without warning the massive sound he had been conjuring cut out. Someone thought he heard him say "Something died." That was the end.
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| The Sight Below |
There was barely time to breathe as Rafael Anton Irisarri prepared for his set. While wearing his classic oversized hood, he used the planetarium's settings to vivid effect. The lights went down, the stars came out bright as night and the sky ended up rotating rather quickly. As The Sight Below, Rafael often uses some dubby, nocturnal pulses, but on this night his set sounded a lot like his solo work and wow it was easily the highlight. When the shower of shooting stars started crossing the dome, it was truly magical. Everyone around me agreed that this was their favorite part of the show. I even went into a dreamlike state at one point. It was really great. Rafael did an amazing job. I have known him for a couple years now, but I didn't get to talk to him after his set. I did say hello, but I was still reeling from a somewhat out of body experience, and he seemed like he wanted to be alone. I might, too, after such an engaging set of ambience. Decompression is important.
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| The Sight Below |
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Not long after this the two fellows of Demdike Stare began their totally bizarro take on electronic/found sound performance, coupled with their trademark obscure footage collages broadcasted above their heads. The footage was definitely memorable. I was peeved at the over use of repetition as it took some of the magic away, but I'm still affected by seeing some of these fragments from B movies and art films. Whoever edits them has a psychotic sensibility, and these videos cause quite a bit of discomfort. They are DARK. Shades of the occult, nightmares, pungent smells, wild erotica, and subterranean morality. I could not name you one of the video sources.
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| Demdike Stare |
I enjoyed their set in an intellectual way. I cannot say the Demdike Stare music really struck a chord in me. They take a really strange approach. Lots of tone pieces, accentuated by eerie found sounds, samples of spooky piano, chains and off kilter "rhythms" created sometimes by drums but more often by the interchanging of parts. After the show I asked Shawn "Why would you repeatedly create music like that?" So much dread! I am not sure I've seen a musical act full of more dread than this. Which is probably a good thing. Something to expand my horizons with in the future perhaps? Not sure, actually. I feel like they are going down a path I may have been interested in years ago. I don't believe humanity is inherently cursed or bad, a feeling which the videos seem to embrace. The whole thing was pretty pessimistic. If Demdike Stare wanted to change the way they make music or do the videos it would be met with much protest from fans. So they're kind of stuck there stylistically. As exercises in discomfort Demdike Stare songs take the prize.
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| Demdike Stare |
All photos courtesy of Steve Louie's Flickr photostream. Dude's got tons of great Vancouver concert photos.
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