In response to the vladislav delay criticism... A friend wrote...
hmm... well. that's an opinion. and s/he's welcome to it. i, on the other hand, had a great time. mainly, i guess, beacause i knew exactly what to expect. and so should anyone who attended, given the blurb on the tate's website, where the words 'contemporary' and 'experimental' feature in the first sentence. i mean, what else were we to expect from one of the world's leading modern art galleries? a largin' it, hands in the air, laser extravaganza? this was a concert/performance, and was billed as such, so why should we expect to be excited by what's on the stage? it's the sound that should be concentrated upon, not the "two ugly blokes" making it. i enjoyed listening to all three of the acts, for different reasons. parlane's piece emerged from the silence and slowly built, layer upon layer, gradually enveloping the listener as the volume and complexity increased, and then slowly stripping things down again over the period of half an hour or so. it was intimate and affecting. tennis did things differently. the "sub-pole/chain reaction ... dub soundscapes" description doing them justice i think. again, it was good to listen to. aurally engaging, if you will (if not visually). delay was different again. abstract electronic music - as advertised. he's been moving in this direction for a while, from the early chain reaction stuff to the latest album on mille plateaux (under his own name, not the luomo stuff - but even on the 'vocal city' album you can hear the layering and vocal snippets and cuts that dominated his performance on saturday). moving in and out - both in volume and through the triggering of different samples, etc - delay created a collage of sound that was quietly disturbing but fascinating to explore. the accusation of 'randomness' is one i've come across before, and which, quite frankly, i find boring and lazy. unless we're all being fooled (which i guess is the risk we take) it was delay himself who was taking the decisions as to when and how he chose to play and layer the sounds he produced. there must be intention in theses actions, thus rendering the random accusation useless. it may have been difficult to listen to but by no means impossible. something was being created before our very ears, as it were, something abstract and hard to understand (if, indeed, understanding is required) but beautiful nonetheless. the whole evening was mucically different. it was good to be able to sit down in a dark space with a quality sound system and listen - i mean really LISTEN - to four artists doing their stuff for us. and i was glad to have been given the opportunity. close your eyes and open your ears. ________________________ > If this bloke comes to a town near you anytime soon, make sure you know what > you're in for before you attend. > > Went with a few mates (and a few list members) to see him 'perform' at the > Tate Modern gallery in London on Saturday. > > What a pile of self-indulgent toss (mho). (US members check your thesauri > for English slang). > > It didn't bode well when it emerged that it was sitting room only in the > Tate's little theatre ... compare this to to 'Metropolis'/Mills at the Royal > Festival Hall ... a compere cautioned us that visiting the toilets during > the "micro-interval" would be met with severe disapproval. > > The line up was Rosy Parlane (NZ) Tennis (UK) and Mr Delay. > > Parlane came on and played about one note for nearly 30 minutes. Someone > whooped when he finished, many faces turned to where it came from carrying > looks which said "WHY?!?!?!?" (to be fair the whooper might have just been > relieved it was over). > > Tennis probably were the standout, playing sub-Pole/Chain Reaction-esque > (but much slower) dub soundscapes and really experimenting with echo. > But -(and this applies to all the acts) watching 2 ugly blokes staring > intently at the screen of a laptop does not an engaging spectacle make. > > I have dug some Vladislav Delay tracks a lot in the past and I always > respect experimentation. But tell me someone, what is the value of random > squelches and other inharmonious noises strung together with vocal snippets > which sound like the voices you might hear if you had the misfortune to > listen inside the head of a schizophrenic? > > There were no beats. This in itself need not be a reason for music to be > boring or even undanceable - but this was *not* The Detroit Escalator > Company - nor even the Vladislav Delay which you'll hear on most of his LPs > and a few Chain Reaction titles. This was sheer random noise obfuscation and > maybe for that reason it was a brave thing to do. I mean maybe he was baring > his soul. But to me he didn't really use 0.00005% of the talents which he > has in doing that. > > Strangely, the London (Guardian) Guide billed it in the clubs section! I > noted many looking at their watches. Luckily it the whole thing was only > about 2 and bit hours long. > > Tate, spend your Education grant more wisely please. That was crap on acid. > > k
