mutek just as you're missing it, part 2/4

[david turgeon <david.t@xxxxxxxx>]

so here, as promised & unexpectedly due (i reckon the delete key is always 
near), the largely credibility challenged report from the heart of 
montreal, whose population just nearly doubled with the afflux of visitors 
from every corner of the universe.  & here i'm not just talking about the 
mosquitoes.  there are really people who attend to these concerts.  & they 
like what they hear!

see how sometimes the context skews your appreciation of music.  tonight, 
i'm finishing off my set for tomorrow.  i usually do everything at the last 
minute, so this is no exception.  seems to be easier for me to get into it 
all at once, otherwise i'm lost behind my machine & i don't know what i'm 
doing.  the whole evening i have been thinking that i really ought to get 
back home as quick as possible so that i feel ready when i wake up 
tomorrow.  this has proven quite problematic when also wanting to keep 
track on the music.  still, this was a very interesting night, as you will 
see...

as i had planned it, i arrived at the free SAT show while duul_drv had just 
begun playing, with surprise guest vitaminsforyou.  the latter however 
seemed to be taking care of the video, so it seems like duul_drv was the 
only one playing.  wheew, it was abstract.  but unfortunately for my 
attention span, it was also very long & details were hard to discern amidst 
the chatter.  this seems to me like music for headphones or very loud 
volumes, & the listening environment was certainly less than ideal for 
this.  it's a bit like when richard chartier & taylor deupree played at the 
laika with everyone chatting.  or maybe it's meant as sonic design, which 
sometimes rewards but never requires attention.

the programme at ex-centris was good in every aspect.  helen of troy 
(montrealer leon lo) did the best set i've seen of him so far.  his work is 
usually quite "simple", in that it is made out of simple repetitions borne 
out of very little gear.  this rudimentary aspect was most evident during 
the first half of the set, which reminded me of his previous live 
appearances.  then, in a luminous moment, he grabs his violin & begins 
playing!  what more, surprise!  the violin goes into the mixer as well & 
begins looping with the rest.  fantastic!  it could have been done a 
hundred times before, the result tonight was excellent.

i had not heard ghislain poirier's CD, but after seeing his set, & although 
i'm pretty sure it's different than his studio work, i'm definitely looking 
for my own copy.  it started inocuously enough, with wishy-washy synths, 
making you think this is going to be "ambient" again.  but as soon as the 
beats begin, there is no turning back, so to speak.  the evolution 
throughout the set is to say the least awesome, culminating into a second 
half dominated by beats inspired by reggae & ragga (*RAGGA*!) & barely any 
vacuum cleaner sounds except for keeping the aesthetic afloat.  in a sense, 
it provided an interesting complement to snd's performance yesterday.  but 
anyway, wow, most satisfying concert of the evening for all i'm concerned.

all those BEATS! had me wishing for MORE BEATS! which neither of the 
following performers decided to pour out of their magical baskets of 
sounds.  as stephan mathieu's set had turned into a vague feedback drone 
following a rather abstract, cut-up beginning, i lied down which helped me 
enjoy the music a lot more, as the discomfort of sitting down on the wooden 
floor was beginning to erode my patience.  & patience--what a strange 
concept when i sit down here knowing i have stuff to do before 
tomorrow.  the public reacted very cheerfully to his set (as with the whole 
evening, i must say) which led me to think that i was probably the only one 
out of the loop.  i enjoyed the extremely minimal visual backgrounds!

janek schaeffer captured the attention of the crowd before he was even 
there.  his material, contrary to the other performers, was right in the 
middle of the room.  it consisted of a 2-arm turntable & some gear.  his 
set was actually quite raw, mostly unmelodic, & building into a great 
tragic finale.  i was really into that.

despite all of my criticisms the whole show was nothing short of 
great.  now, i'm presently missing the following show (solvent, lowfish, 
bola, ensemble) which should help fill the blatant lack of idm shows in 
this town.

tomorrow: stop anything you're doing, camp is doing a free show along with 
vromb, xenofonex & capsule.  5 PM is when the event begins.  the SAT is 
where it will take place.  i'm going to be doing a few different things, 
either recent tunes or old ones which i like playing when i feel 
cheesy.  prepare for 199 mHz of ruckus!@#  it's a brand new era...  it 
feels great...

i'm quite sure the following show at the metropolis will be all floor 
material, but i'm quite willing to go anyway, if only to extend my 
reporting duties to the outskirts of the "night life" (ohhh boy, now we're 
acting serious.)  maybe i'll come up with a comparative analysis?  at any 
rate, i will be checking out the fallt/12k exhibit, also at the metropolis, 
until saturday.  i have no idea what it'll be like so i can't say very much 
more than that, but who on this list will say with a straight face that 
they don't have a soft spot for graphic design?

have a nice day
~ david