Hi everybody!
Saturday, august 6, the Oscillate posse from Birmingham was in The
Netherlands again. Last year they were present at the Ambient weekend
in De Melkweg/Milky Way, and this year they organised an 'ambient
rave' for the Triple X art festival. The event was at an old gas
holder in Amsterdam.
We entered the site at 11.00 PM (it started an hour too late) to see a
beautifully decorated hall with very good lights and some nice
effects. At the centre of the hall was a large round stage with all
the instruments of the performing artists. Needless to say this looked
quite impressive.
The Oscillate Sound System played in the main hall and the chill-out
collective Telepathic Fish played in a small neighbouring tent which
could be reached from the main hall.
The first performing artists were Pentatonik. I don't know too much
about them but their gig was OK, though a bit too repetitious after a
while. I liked the fact that they did a lot of live
drumming/percussion. A nice start of the night, and they injected some
energy into the crowd.
After Pentatonik, the Higher Intelligence Agency were on. I saw them
last year in the Milky Way and i really enjoyed that gig. Their slow
acidic style is very danceable. Unfortunately their sound wasn't very
good tonight. Their 'bass soup' didn't get me moving like last year
and i also didn't hear a lot of new songs. Yes, i was a little bit
disappointed.
At this time the atmosphere got better and better, so it was a perfect
time for Orbital to do their thing. I hadn't see them before, but i
heard they're a very good live band, so i expected quite something. I
must say i didn't expect too much, these guys are so professional.
They really know how to excite their audience with their enthusiasm.
It's good to hear how they mix old and new tracks into one continious
track with many highlights. They're also one of the few 'techno-bands'
who know how to play different styles in one set succesfully. And yes,
as has been said before in some posts on idm, those new tracks are
quite weird. Especially the jungle track is a move in new directions.
Lots of people left after Orbital, so it was a bit empty when Autechre
started to play. For me they were the highlight of the night though.
They played a special set with just two or three (very long!) more
'ambient/industrial' versions of some songs, not their normal, more
'clubby' live set. BASSCADET indeed!!
As it was starting to get light already, it was the perfect time for
SUN Electric (sorry for the stupid joke :). They also played a special
ambient set. It was OK, but not very original i think. I guess it's
becoming harder to come up with interesting new ideas in that
particular type of music. The climax of their set was very well done
though: a great trance track (the new German folk music?).
After Sun Electric left, Mixmaster Morris appeared behind the
turntables. I just 'experienced' his spinning for a short time as it
was getting a bit late (early), and we almost fell asleep (despite
his spinning), so we left at about 7.30 AM.
All and all it was a very good night. The atmosphere was really good.
I hope the Megadog gig at the end of august will be just as good as
Triple X Oscillate..............
Cheers,
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| Hans Veneman |
| E-mail: veneman@tv99ad.hacktic.nl |
| phone: +31(0)3200-35266 |
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