Fri 26th - the Cube, Bristol. Presented by Qu-Junktions
...Arrived half way through some films from Fonal label owner - Sami Sanpakkila. Powder-flake snowscapes, an erased face running through the white, trees nebula like to the sky, drawing slow mo circles, then moving on to explorations of Kemialliset Ystavat burning the midnight oil - All available space littered in wires/pedals and vintage musical debris, the music a reflection of the chaos... Looking round, Paul was falling into a coma to my left, as Kek morphed into the fabric of the seat (like one of his photoshopped smears); his hat giving out scarecrow shadows as he explained that one of the KY collective was using glasses of water to complete the sound circuits...
DreamTriangle - a Skaters / Tomutonttu combo, gave out a dense swamp of interlocking and overlaid textures that collapsed to brief interludes of syrupy tabla, gossamer flute or pointed keyboard. The sound switching it's direction, amassing activity around ever new counterpoints, no one person seemingly in control, everybody happily improvising off the flow, as half perceived vocals chanted and moaned from inside a droning belly. Infinitely strung out, overloaded speakers nibbled at the inner ear – a mix of pain and pleasure, synchronised to diodes blinking in the near darkness… hints of crackling vinyl escaping the fx-labyrinth fizz.
The Islaja, Blectum and Lubelski fusion were a less abstract affair. I must say, I’ve been smitten by Islaja’s voice for quite a while now and it's probably the only Finnish act I can actually safely pronounce. Here, the instrumentation just fell around her vocals beautifully, like bell jars full of flapping colour, with Blevin Blectum throwing across digital chasms caught up in Lubelski’s melody and a bassy backbone (think the bassist was a member of Islaja’s live act?). Sometimes this broke out in poptastic rashes, other times much looser, embellished in toy-like rhythms, latex owl screams and rumbling Korg thunder.
Kemialliset Ystavat and Axolotl, a slow burning incense of sound; coaxing you in, tuck you up with its detuned graces... Axolotl injecting shattered glass percussion and distorted violin snakes into the pared down hypnosis of the Finnish contingent… oh, this could have bled over to the small hours, I wouldn’t be complaining...
Another interval was filled with more Finnish projections. A cracking blend of the surreal and humorous from Jonna Karanka and Pasi Myllymaki left me in awe of their collective genius and blinding simplicity... as they shamed most conceptual video art for the boring uninspired navel gazing it often is...
The last act - Es and Fursaxa …were all vocal loops, twilight bells and classical garlands of fx wash, breaking into sunset flame… Sami and Tara in duet, synthesized lines erased then re-written, voices caught in the folds of some solidifying ocean, changelings clinging to branches in slipping contours. What a fantastic paring, like the rest of the evenings acts...
Comments
should really get some glasses
cool photos dude