00:00 01/01/2007
I was sitting alone on a train between Heidelberg and Rosanna, on my way home from work. A minute prior, random play on my iPod had brought up The Weeping Song by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.
We can only ever hope for different a year.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Cornelius's Sensuous Showcase
I nearly didn't go to this concert. Grief.
Cornelius was opened by Mountains in the Sky and Crayon Fields.
I'd been curious about MinS for a while, but I'm not sure why. On thinking, I was probably crossing wires with Explosions in the Sky, a rather awesome prog rock group. They're playing in the same musical field though, so I wasn't disappointed with my unrelated expectations. They play electronica, a lot of found sounds involved, and were quite good at bringing up a catchy beat. Unfortunately, the set they performed this night was plagued by technical difficulties, which they could have hidden, but instead showed their panic on stage, which I found painful to watch. Regardless, I bought their CD. Not that I've been able to listen to it yet, what with having a dead iPod, stupid bloody iPod.
CF, in contrast, played a fantastically tight set. They were a bunch of adorable dorks, trendily untrendy nerds, if that makes sense. I have no idea what genre they'd be slotted in. Some of their music reminded me of the Beach Boys, and some of it not so much. Good stuff, and I would definitly recommend catching them live, even if it's just to check out Mr Funky Xylophone man.
The Cornelius show, because it wasn't a gig, it was a whole show, started as they were setting up, with a teeth-grindingly annoying ever-so-slightly out of sync
'bip...bop...bop...bip' ping-ponging from one speaker to another. This continued for half an hour or so, until the lights came on, putting four colour bars on the white screen set up behind the stage. Each time a speaker bipped, a different colour bar came on. By this time, the crowd was a little restless and drunk, and started cheering every time a bip/colour change happened. Except for blue. For some reason, blue was booed quite vehemently.
And then, yes, at last! The band came out, tiny little Japanese people doing tiny little Japanese bows, and took up their instruments.
The bipping then controlled not just the colour bars, but the musician that stood in that colour. Turn by turn they played little bits and pieces, dribs and drabs, a tinkle of super mario, faster and faster until the chaos became a coherant piece of music, and they proceded to perform the greatest show I've ever seen.
The music was accompanied by a light show which was not just flashing lights, or random images thrown up on a screen to fill the space while the audience stares at the band, rather the opposite. The band were as unobtrusive as possible, directing all attention to the great show around them. One song was accompanied by a constant scrolling animation of birds, silhouetted against a twilight sky as trees and buildings whirled past. Another with perfectly and disturbingly syncronised mouths popping up everywhere. Drop was played to some astonishing footage of water, another a surrel montage watching someone walk their fingers through a mundane desk top. Unfortunately, I don't have a set list handy, and the internet doesn't know either.
The animation and the playing was so intricately linked, it was down to slivers of seconds, and it was perfect. Stunning. Faaaaaaaaaan-bloody-tastic.
I don't imagine they'll be back for another handful of years, but when they do, keep them in mind. Even if you don't know the music, they're more than worth seeing. I ran home full of delight and squees.
And I'm sorry for booing at the blue. That was the bassist. Didn't know. Really sorry.
I nearly didn't go to this concert. Grief.
Cornelius was opened by Mountains in the Sky and Crayon Fields.
I'd been curious about MinS for a while, but I'm not sure why. On thinking, I was probably crossing wires with Explosions in the Sky, a rather awesome prog rock group. They're playing in the same musical field though, so I wasn't disappointed with my unrelated expectations. They play electronica, a lot of found sounds involved, and were quite good at bringing up a catchy beat. Unfortunately, the set they performed this night was plagued by technical difficulties, which they could have hidden, but instead showed their panic on stage, which I found painful to watch. Regardless, I bought their CD. Not that I've been able to listen to it yet, what with having a dead iPod, stupid bloody iPod.
CF, in contrast, played a fantastically tight set. They were a bunch of adorable dorks, trendily untrendy nerds, if that makes sense. I have no idea what genre they'd be slotted in. Some of their music reminded me of the Beach Boys, and some of it not so much. Good stuff, and I would definitly recommend catching them live, even if it's just to check out Mr Funky Xylophone man.
The Cornelius show, because it wasn't a gig, it was a whole show, started as they were setting up, with a teeth-grindingly annoying ever-so-slightly out of sync
'bip...bop...bop...bip' ping-ponging from one speaker to another. This continued for half an hour or so, until the lights came on, putting four colour bars on the white screen set up behind the stage. Each time a speaker bipped, a different colour bar came on. By this time, the crowd was a little restless and drunk, and started cheering every time a bip/colour change happened. Except for blue. For some reason, blue was booed quite vehemently.
And then, yes, at last! The band came out, tiny little Japanese people doing tiny little Japanese bows, and took up their instruments.
The bipping then controlled not just the colour bars, but the musician that stood in that colour. Turn by turn they played little bits and pieces, dribs and drabs, a tinkle of super mario, faster and faster until the chaos became a coherant piece of music, and they proceded to perform the greatest show I've ever seen.
The music was accompanied by a light show which was not just flashing lights, or random images thrown up on a screen to fill the space while the audience stares at the band, rather the opposite. The band were as unobtrusive as possible, directing all attention to the great show around them. One song was accompanied by a constant scrolling animation of birds, silhouetted against a twilight sky as trees and buildings whirled past. Another with perfectly and disturbingly syncronised mouths popping up everywhere. Drop was played to some astonishing footage of water, another a surrel montage watching someone walk their fingers through a mundane desk top. Unfortunately, I don't have a set list handy, and the internet doesn't know either.
The animation and the playing was so intricately linked, it was down to slivers of seconds, and it was perfect. Stunning. Faaaaaaaaaan-bloody-tastic.
I don't imagine they'll be back for another handful of years, but when they do, keep them in mind. Even if you don't know the music, they're more than worth seeing. I ran home full of delight and squees.
And I'm sorry for booing at the blue. That was the bassist. Didn't know. Really sorry.
Passion - Emminence Online
This was the first of a new line of concerts for EO; neither solo piano or symphony orchestra, but somewhere in the middle. Two violins, a piano, guitar, and drummer. A sort of orchestra rock band.
I found, as with the solo piano, the music adaptations a bit hit and miss. Some pieces left me cold and hearing nothing but what was taken out. That said, when they hit, they hit.
The theme to Super Mario Bros just goes OFF. I mean, OFF. That just rocked the whole house. The theme to Chron Cross (I'm not sure if the game was ever released in Australia) was also a piece of brilliance.
But the high point - they played Danse Macabre! This is neither anime or game music, it was written for an orchestra to play for the sake of being played. I love this piece; I played it on violin in high school. Badly. They tore the building down with it, it was just brilliant and amazing, and only one violinst and the piano slamming away... I suggested Danse Macabre at the last concert, in a survey I filled out. Happy conincidence or not, I loved it.
It's funny, how music that makes me that explodingly delighted also makes me cry.
I still prefer the full orchestral concerts, but I'll keep this series in mind when the next round comes up.
This was the first of a new line of concerts for EO; neither solo piano or symphony orchestra, but somewhere in the middle. Two violins, a piano, guitar, and drummer. A sort of orchestra rock band.
I found, as with the solo piano, the music adaptations a bit hit and miss. Some pieces left me cold and hearing nothing but what was taken out. That said, when they hit, they hit.
The theme to Super Mario Bros just goes OFF. I mean, OFF. That just rocked the whole house. The theme to Chron Cross (I'm not sure if the game was ever released in Australia) was also a piece of brilliance.
But the high point - they played Danse Macabre! This is neither anime or game music, it was written for an orchestra to play for the sake of being played. I love this piece; I played it on violin in high school. Badly. They tore the building down with it, it was just brilliant and amazing, and only one violinst and the piano slamming away... I suggested Danse Macabre at the last concert, in a survey I filled out. Happy conincidence or not, I loved it.
It's funny, how music that makes me that explodingly delighted also makes me cry.
I still prefer the full orchestral concerts, but I'll keep this series in mind when the next round comes up.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
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