Sleepless :: September 22nd, 2007
The festival started with opening showcases on Thursday evening.
Becuase of scheduling issues (and budget) I was unable to make the
festival until tonight. This is Seattle’s 4th annual Decibel
Festival,
the third in which I attended (only missed last year due to illness).
Tonight, honestly, I had no idea who the DJ’s were downstairs (the
line-up switched several times). There were no signs up as there were
on subsequent evenings. I do know that it was either Spinoza or Derek
Plaslaiko. Whichever, the NY sound was completely revved up and on
fire. Upstairs was another story, a train-wreck so loud I had to buy
earplugs (that was a first). The volume was irresponisible and on
stage was either Kill Memory Crash or Guns N’ Bombs as it seems that
Mute artists Motor, who I came to see, cancelled. I hate when that
happens. The super amp’d beats shook the foundations. What I could
blurredly hear through the plugs rocked and grooved, but someone needs
to find a way to make the acoustic experience a lil’ less harsh. In my
attempt to keep the ADD simultaneity alive, I tore back downstairs.
There, as the heat from the tight quarters was broiling, the revellers
came alive, and despite the sweat, had the place hopping. Music
festivals tend to have these wonderful, improv, built-in surprises.
Tomorrow hopefully I will squeeze in some gallery hopping (maybe I
will finally see the Frye Museum?) with friends arriving from LA and
PDX. I may have found two separate hotels for tonight (The Inn @
Virginia Mason) and tomorrow (The Moore Hotel).
Decibel Brings It :: September 23rd, 2007
That was Netherlandish Speedy J along with visionary filmmaker Scott
Pagano roughing up the stage at Neumos last night. The big, looming
entrance laid down a heavy sphere of bass beats and crowd-pleasing
energy for the full house. Where am I? Well, this was actually the
third of four full days of sonic programming from the folks at
Seattle’s Decibel Festival.
Most of the artists and DJs, playing in a small handful of venues are
something of a blur as you climb and descend flights of stairs between
the balcony, Attached to Neumo’s is simply Moe’s and the VIP Room
(which seemed to be the best spot for some intimate funky sounds –
spelled “hot as blazes” down there). Last night included Mikael
Stavöstrand‘s dark contained sound, followed by the wide open funky
fresh pop spin led by Canadian Mike Shannon (the best set of the PM),
and then it was Jeff Samuel who looks like that singer from Blancmange
(anyone remember?). The latter’s set had much more that I would assume
had to be left to the imagination as it was pretty standard,
uneventful.
Well, from scorching heat to icy cool. Earlier in the evening was the
Ambient Showcase at the Town Hall, and this year literally stunned.
The hall, which is a lovely old building with pew-like seating, was
literally three blocks from my hotel, which was completely
serendipitous. The first evening of cool Autumn air made for a perfect
setting. Taking to the stage as an opener was Rafael Irisarri whose
minimal set was quite chilled, perfect for late night denizens who
have immersed themselves in all aspects of the festival. The acoustics
were clear and refined, and a bit sleep inducing. This was completely
re-bolstered when Norway’s Biosphere (Geir Jenssen) took the stage,
perfectly complementing the evening with airy, open soundscapes that
have the perfect amount of grey area in which they never decline into
something too washed out. The drone he creates causes for internal
quietude and refocus. There were lovely accompanying visuals with
tonal shifts, slight depth-of-field play and organics. But honestly I
kept my eyes were wide shut for a majority of his body/mind ellipse of
a set.
The headliners, legendary Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd, took turns
playing solo and together, which was really incredible to experience.
Guthrie had some minor tech issues, and mumbled from stage a bit, but
once his guitar and laptop spoke to each other, he in turn filled the
entire hall with his signature bold, wavering sound. Recalling the
days of “Blue Bell Knoll” (nearly 20 years ago), he played short,
haiku-like songs rather than long bands of sound pieces. The silences
in between were a bit like punctuation, but by the fifth piece his
playing got longer until Budd took the stage to rightful applause.
Once he stepped behind the piano the room was completely transfixed.
His playing, in layers, slightly dubbed, filtered with real ambient resonance. It was a cascade of silk harmonies ready for twilight. They
had a dovetailing virtuosic sense of musicianship not often found in a
festival of this ilk. It was certainly intended for the cross-audience
in the house. Absolutely stunning, with the most slumbering of
sensibilities. They played a solid hour and I contemplated counting in
my chips and going back to sleep, but instead started back at the top
(of this blog that is). Overall their combined sound became quite
emotional, intimate. A musical night to remember.
Seattle Wrap-Up :: September 24th, 2007
Well, it’s not quite a rap yet as I sit here sipping a most righteous
cuppa mocha from the folks at All City Coffee. Aside from the Library,
this place has the best overall Internet ambience of any cafe in town.
Believe me, I’ve been to them all.
The Quicktime file is slowly uploading. As I await the results of this
next round of the Ultimate Blogger (UB3 for short) how can I possibly
sum up my experiences here easily? It was an a/v weekend with high and
low points ranging across the scales, some disappointments, some
surprises, you know. What you expect I suppose, a full spectrum. I
learned more about walking around the city and got quite good
navigating the free buses downtown, the hotels, the people, and my own
expectations. All are rightly questionable for one reason or another.
Let’s start with yesterday. Well, mainly I went shopping at Wall of
Sound. I purchased $50 worth of music. I still buy music. A lot less
than I used to, but, for me, it’s about discovering some older stuff,
I call it vintage music. Sure, lots of this is contained to the last
12 or so years, but a lot has happened in electronica (sorry for the
term) in this short span. So, I found some old Stewart Walker‘s (circa
’99 and ’00) that got me quite excited, and Cycling a Portable
recording on a German label, which I had never seen. Funky, crackly,
mmmm good. I like the guys that run this joint, they have a good
sensibility of what’s in their stock, and seem to care about what they
stock. Knowledgeable and good taste – hard combo to come by.
This has been the weekend of near misses, and circumstance. Seattle
folks are, in general, plainly aloof. My buddy Robert who was up from
LA noted this to me, and I agree. The cosmo effect gone lightly to
many heads me thinks. Mind you, I like a lot of what is offered here,
but always one to live in a satellite city (Boston as opposed to NY,
Portland as opposed to Seattle or SF), I start to realize I like it
smaller, more compact. I like a place that welcomes people who know
its a good thing because its not worn out on its sleeve. Does that
make sense? OK, it will have to suffice as I only have an hour to
catch the train.
Now for the remainder of the festival. Last night was the Raster-Noton
showcase. I could simply say, nuff said. But I will imply more about
what actually took place at the Broadway Performance Hall last night.
First up was the great Dane, Pixel (Jon Egeskov). His work was cool
and warm and, well, somewhat pixelated. And that was sans any visuals.
It was nice to watch an artist on this label produce sounds that were
slightly less structured, yet still somehow reserved to an extent. He
had a smooth vibe for sure, though I would have hoped he, like the
other two performers to come played straight through without any
breaks. Their sound sort of calls for a longplay. Though it was surely
way beyond any standard in the field of minimal techno out there.
Olaf Bender was next. Man. He nailed it. N*A*I*L*E*D it! I’m still
floating from his sound, which I explained to him later in the evening
was nothing short of the only term I could use to describe it, White
Hot. I was happy he recognized me after the many years between (4 or
5) since we met in Montreal. He tried to decipher my comment to no
avail but to say something about a white photograph, something that
sounded intriguing, but I was being pulled into the direction of lite
bites at Presse by Jamie Drouin and his lovely and fun fiancee, Yann
Novak and Cimarron Corpe‘ (who was doing visuals for Italoboys
tonight). Anyhow, don’t want to lose my train of thought. Bender‘s
performance was only milimeters short of sheer perfection. There were
elements of The Normal, of Kraftwerk, and even something that I cannot
dismiss as being a vague sample from Madonna‘s “Vogue.” I know it was
in there. And I am not going to point out the few super minor
humanizing tech ers. Because they were so fluidly and flawlessly
overshadowed by a direct hit to the center of my body. The sound was
physical, larger than the room, encircling the hall with a technical
bent that was pure math, yet not any formula you studied in school. It
was being immersed in the center of something containing, but you
learn to relish the quarters you are locked in.
Last up for the showcase was Kangding Ray. He was slightly late, but
had quite the set up of gear outta boxes and stands, and started with
a short wave transmitter in hand, and vocoded hushed voice manouevers.
It was more improv than the other two, alongside some simple changing
video of lil organic spotlights that meandered and pulsed as he
played. It was tight and full of frayed beats and melodics that were
more asymmetrical than his one record, Stabil on the label.
At Neumos the DJs took the night, primarily the tech-funk of bearish
Claude VonStroke (Barclay Crenshaw) and the into the last call hours
with the Italoboys who had fun with jazz and mafioso thematics.
VonStroke was like walking on white hot coals without looking back. It
was the funkiest highlight of the fest by far. The grooves were deep
and just downright off the hook. Upstairs the legendary original
Kraftwerk drummer, Wolfgang Flur (aka Yamo) was in the house. It was a
bit all over the place. First, it was fascinating to see him live for
the first time, but his sound was muddied, not sure if that was a tech
glitch or just what it was. A technician later explained “The mud was
from a Kaoss Pad being directly in the outputs. Did you notice how the
sound opened up and the bass found definition after the crash about
1/2 way through? The crash was the Kaoss pad going belly up, the
better sound was ’cause it got patched around and the performance
continued on without it.” And, yes, I did notice, and the fix was
much needed and opened the night up. There were other some salient
moments as well, it wasn’t just like “this 50 or 60 year old guy
trying to be hip kinda thing” (well, maybe a lil). He had some
wonderful curves to what he was doing, very pre-recorded “package
sounding”. I danced, isn’t that what matters? You get into it. I could
have done without the sort of walk down memory lane from the 70’s
onward in the background videos which basically showed a document of
his time with Kraftwerk. He hasn’t moved on. But his sound has, though
he wonderfully incorporated some of the samples he created way back
into his set. Hey, I even noticed Alain Mongeau, the curator of the
Mutek Festival in the house last night.
See you next year Decibel!
For more info about Decibel Festival, visit their website at dbfestival.com
