After my initial talk with Christian Fennesz I hung around in the green room talking to him and video artist Lillevan about software, the music industry, and alternative revenue streams. Here’s what they had to say.
Peter Dines: Could you tell us about Modul8 for a second?
Lillevan: I don’t want to force anything on you, it’s just that before you think I’m just doing Jitter things…
I had a super, super time talking to Christian Fennesz on Friday, and as a bonus Lillevan from Rechenzentrum was there and talked about his upcoming performance with Fennesz, video software etc.
Though he uses Max-based “lloopp” onstage, Fennesz is a user of Reaktor (and anything / everything else) in the studio and says he browses the user library for new stuff once a month. We namechecked a couple of the great Reaktor builders who make stuff he uses - Martin Brinkmann and Dieter Zobel, among others.
Later I had a great interview with Tim Hecker about software, sampling, source material, composition - he also uses Reaktor - I’m going to email him some followup questions to get more specifics. Tim had a run in with a door earlier that day that left an egg sized bruise swelling up on his cheekbone. As a result I don’t think we were connecting as well as we could have. The poor guy was trying to eat a late lunch and recuperate while a lineup of media people waited to interview him. I think he’s okay - his performance later that night was terrific. Tim performed in near-blackout conditions with nothing to distract from the massive blimps of sound he inflates and releases - that’s his analogy for what he does. More on that when I get the interview transcribed.
Ben Frost kicked off the A/Visions 3 show with processed guitar, stacks of amps, feedback and a command of the stage - the guy knows how to present his music in a visually arresting way. Two old-school cassette recorders sat miked at each end of his performance rig, matched by two stacks of amps and speakers off in back and two the sides. Ben attacks his material physically, working the rig with his whole body. Expect to hear a whole lot more from Ben.
The second A/Visions featured, among others, headliners Rechenzentrum and Thrill Jockey artist Németh.
You may know Stefan Németh from his work with Radian. At Mutek, he was joined by drummer Steven Hess of Pan American for a live performance of music from Németh’s first solo release, Film. Ironically, there was no visual presentation other than the musicians themselves. Németh performed with a modular synth that was maddeningly turned away from me so I can’t say what it was… he also looked to be triggering things with an MPC. I love seeing electronic musicians performing live with drummers or acoustic instrumentalists - when it’s well coordinated, it’s magic. This was no “here’s a click track, stick to it” sort of deal. One got the feeling that the performers were keeping a keen eye on each other and balancing the tempo on a knife edge. Great stuff.
Rechenzentrum presented the North American debut of their work, Silence. It was visually and sonically lush. The next day I got a chance to talk to video manipulator Lillevan who was also presenting his work in conjunction with the music of Fennesz at A/Visions 3 on Friday. Lillevan is a user of Cycling 74’s Jitter, and his constantly mutating visuals were a brilliant counterpoint to Marc Weiser’s audio half of Rechenzentrum. The audio spanned everything from the sound of steam engines to what I can only describe as dub by way of Esquivel.
Too much music, too little time! I’ll have something to say about performers Freida Abtan and Nokami + Sans Soleil later.
This is turning out to be an awesome edition of Mutek.
