rhetoric, writing, and technology

Music Mash Up

So, I've been swamped and let a number of music posts slide, so here's a quick summary.

KSE: I went to see Killswtich Engage at the National Theatre in Richmond. They are one of the few metal bands that I've continued to follow over the last few years. Opener Lacuna Coil were OK, but didn't quite do it for me. They seemed like a less creative Queensryche. The music (guitars, bass, drums, and backing keyboard tracks) all seemed to be there just to showcase the vocals. The vocals were good, but at this point I want to see some more musical creativity. KSE, on the other hand, had plenty of it for me. These guys catch flack from diehard metal fans as being too poppy and from mainstream people for being too metal, but they really hit the perfect balance for me between heaviness, quality songwriting, and creative guitarwork. The crowd went ape-shit, singing along to *every* song. When the vocalist stopped singing, the crowd carried the songs and filled the theatre as if the sound was coming out of the PA. Nothing bad about that.

Youtube Sound Collage: Mark Sample sent me this under the banner "most creative use of Youtube." A really cool way to merge video and sound to produce a sound collage that *works*.

Sound Scene: This past weekend we went to the DC Listening Lounge show at The Warehouse. Upstairs they had three installations based on the theme of the body. The first room simply had the sound of a beating heart and blood pulsing through veins filling the room with a blue screen projected on the wall. The second room had a manikin laid out on a table with headphones attached to different parts of the body. Each one played a different sound/audio loop involving that part of the body. The last room had "vertical twister": spots on the wall had places for hands, feet, forehead, etc., and when you placed the requested part there it would trigger a motion sensor that triggered sound. I liked the latter the best. Downstairs we managed to catch Janel and Anthony live for a few songs. She plays cello and he plays guitar. Both run through effects and they weave in and out of song structures and soundscapes. I like the more experimental direction they seem to be headed, but what makes it work is the grounding in solid musicianship. I like.

Flat Fields: So, after I've been getting interested in some experimental sound art stuff, my old friend Paul Bennett comes out of the woodwork with some cool sound collage stuff. It seems like when it comes to art and technology he's always one step ahead. When I'm slaving away commuting and grading papers, he's sitting in his room with a guitar and sampler. Alas. This current stuff shows older musical influences from Daniel Ash/Bauhaus and Butthole Surfers to contemporary sound art/noise genre. Straight up Burroughs style cutup sound collage mixed with some of his own guitar playing. After a couple of emails I got the true genesis of the project: "I used to work near the border of Mexico when I was doing my stint in the oil field early 90's. Radio reception around that area is strange. In the dead of night you could hear several radio stations bleeding into one so you could hear a lot of songs being played at once. Often, some of the songs appeared as if they were recorded back in the early 30's, shot into space, then bounced back." Check out his video too!

Posted by: bhawk at 12:38 | link | comments (2)
music, reviews, texas

#1  [In moderation]   23 October 2009 - 02:57

 

#2  [In moderation]   24 October 2009 - 00:02