EVERGREEN CLUB GAMELAN

I lived in Singapore when I was younger, and got exposed to all kinds of music–I even own several gamelan instruments from a voyage to Indonesia–but I’ve never actually heard gamelan live (I don’t *think*).  The sounds are so bright and brilliant, and in the church they ring forever (even if the pew set up is horrible so no one can see what the haps are and they weren’t letting anyone sit in the Gallery–why? That is so silly. Churches are paranoid androids). It was beautiful, and it made me start wonderinging if a DIY gamelan could be made out of old pots and things.

The first half consisted of a  piece by John Cage meant to represent Haiku, but it didn’t come off as well as I’m sure it has in the past. The space seemed like awkward rather than pregnant pauses, and I kept hoping wondering if every pause would be the end. The violin concerto which followed it was a far better thing.  It was written by Lou Harrison and it was gorgeous.  The second half was even better–there was a second Cage piece which was better than the first by far, there was an amazing work by Gordon Monahan for gamelan and prepared piano which I loved, and there was a final Lou Harrison piece, which had a tender melody played through on an instrument with a timbre like a cross between a celeste and a sober glockenspiel.

Once I had given up trying to see (and being cross about not-seeing), I really enjoyed the concert. And at intermission, I walked out into the lobby to see Glenn Buhr talking to none other than John Oswald! That was another kind of surreal thing, since I studied him this year in my Electroacoustics class. Do I need to get used to encountering people I have learned about in school?

THE BOOKS

Oh Em Gee, The Books.
An audience of hipsters? Indeed!
Nick the guitar is having a good time
Paul de Jong is a professional always
But they are both incredible artists.

(Onscreen) Black and white video
A man takes off his hat
A man takes off his hat
A man takes off his hat
A hatted man takes off his glasses

(Onstage) It is Art with a subtle sense of humour,
Well-crafted, warm, melodic folk thickened
With a molasses-cello and
Speech-clips saying things that are
Strangely inspired

“For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree
She climbed down from the tree next day, God Bless Her.”

(Onscreen)One patient, many therapists
All nod, all support
All come off crazier than the subject.

Hunters argue with their goose calls
In my head: “I have made reeds that sound like that”
The geese chill with their homies.

(Onstage) Soundclips from TalkBoys
Kids’ recordings, some of which
Are life-threatening.
Nick mouths the words of his favourites.
I would like to be friends with Nick’s brothers,
With their awkward tape recordings, crazy penguins, and mad skillz
I would not like to be Nick’s small child;
That alphabet song was terrifying.

(Onscreen) “Relax. Let Go. Gallbladder.”

A baby sits in a hat and endures
A teacup on its head.
A grocery store floor littered with cans
Clips from Our Heroes’ Home Videos
8-frames to a 16th note

“With love. And with the passage of food over many years.”

(Onstage) They seem so humble
Playing music for the sake of itself.
An odd combination of people
An odd combination of sound and sight

“Here is a new song about the circulatory system.”

BLUE DOT

Blue Dot was, as it was described to me, an Arts Rave (in the brochure as “not a rave”).  Now, that said, it wasn’t a particularly hardcore, scary rave.  It was artsy people dancing, and lots of crazy projections on the wall, and so on.  There was even a neat “quiet time” room with carpeting and a projection of the night sky on the ceiling.  The Tannery is usually a deserted building in downtown Kitchener, but last night they transformed it into an incredibly cool space. (I am going to see who I need to bribe to get it for my grad concert.) The music was good, the scene was good, I just don’t dance unless I have had a beer or two. And several of my professors were there, talking to people and hanging out, and it was freaking me out.

The best part of it, though, for me, was the Swinging Speakers performance. By Gordon Monahan, with whom I pretty much spent the entire festival. He had a piece played at the Evergreen Club concert, he had an installation piece at Kitchener City Hall, and Swinging Speakers. He showed up at Vexations setup on Friday (which seems like aeons ago), and he came out to ~spin~, the very last concert.  He sat with me at DIVA and we went soundwalking with Murray Schafer on Saturday, and yeah, pretty much every other event. So I had to get a picture! Ta da!

Swinging Speakers is three people (in this case, Edwin Outwater, Andrew Tereszowski, and Jason White) standing on platforms, swinging speakers projecting sound in circles around their heads like lassos.  There were lights attached to the speakers.  The room started out light-ish with three spotlights on the spinners.  Then the spotlights went out, and lamps on the speakers came on.  Then the room lights went out, leaving just the spinning speaker-lights. It was wonderful.

I got a clip or two of the performance.  Here is one of them! Once again: the sound is frighteningly bad so turn down (not off this time, though) your speakers!

Edwin is on the left, Andrew is in the middle, Jason is on the right.

We didn’t end up staying at Blue Dot all that late, and I spent most of my time there looking at art, videotaping people’s feet under a curtain (there was this one guy who was dancing next to the bar wearing these old brown leather shoes and black socks and shorts which was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time), losing and finding my friends, and studiously avoiding my professors. It was, however, a good time.

Blue Dot was supposed to be the big after party for Open Ears, but I really would’ve liked to spend the events seperately–Blue Dot would’ve been amazingly fun had I had some beer and no professorly types; and I would have very much liked to hang out with the artists and attendees of Open Ears in a quieter location where we could talk.  Still, though! My friend Nick noted that the festival began with 16 hours of straight Satie, and ended with an Arts Rave–which is pretty fantastic for any arts festival to claim.

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