Richard wrote a good review of:
quoted 3 lines Plone, Broadcast, Autechre, Plaid>Plone, Broadcast, Autechre, Plaid
>Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
>20th June
Hi Richard,
I also attended and thought it was only a partial success due to the fact
that Autechre were head-and-shoulders above the rest but only onstage for
a shortish while. Just my personal bias of course.
quoted 7 lines Kickoff was 10pm; John Peel spoke very briefly & handed over to Plone.>Kickoff was 10pm; John Peel spoke very briefly & handed over to Plone.
>They used lots of "cheesy" organ sounds, 50s sci-fi noises, and
>early-Casio Latin percussion sounds, plus some kicking loops & rumbling
>bass. Some pieces had a fairground sound to them; in general less bass-
>or drum-oriented than much "IDM" music. Some very good stuff -- overall
>a retro feel; a friend commented that it was kind of like a 50s
>prediction of the music of the future. They played until 10.45.
Agree with your decription but far too retro (even the clothes!). I still
remember those sounds and clothes from when i was a kid and my mum made my
clothes. Not enough new ideas I felt. Lots of live-playing but felt it to
be more doodling than progressive or evolving. There was one track which
built up quite nicely....
quoted 5 lines In between the sets Warp videos and tracks were played; I was>In between the sets Warp videos and tracks were played; I was
>particularly glad to see "Second bad vilbel" (stunning), "On" and "Donkey
> rhubarb". Oh, and on the way in there were people handing out WAP100
>keyrings, stickers, & sweets, and postcards for the new Autechre album.
>(But there were no Warp/Autechre T-shirts or other merchandise on sale.)
Nice touch by Warp I felt. The cd stall rapidly sold out all of the
WAP100s!
quoted 1 line Broadcast started at 11 & played until 11.45.>Broadcast started at 11 & played until 11.45.
They're never going to get anywhere i wouldn't have thought but found them
more engaging than Plone at least.
quoted 14 lines Autechre started at 12 and played in complete darkness for 55 minutes.>Autechre started at 12 and played in complete darkness for 55 minutes.
>It was the first time I've seen them live, having managed to miss them
>with depressing frequency for years, but I love all their releases.
>I was quite shocked, therefore, to find myself disappointed by the set.
>Firstly, it was as if they'd turned the tempo of their sequencers up to
>11; the set was considerably faster than any of their released tracks.
>(This was particularly noticeable when "Second bad vilbel" was played
>after their set.) Secondly -- possibly due to the first factor -- I
>didn't recognise a single track (though I noticed a familiar chord
>sequence, and some of the rhythm from "Clipper"). That's not to say I
>didn't enjoy the set -- just that I expected something very different.
>Pieces were long, and used the rhythmic mutation of "Chiastic Slide";
>they were ultra-complex, often loud and discordant, and
>always interesting. Are all their live sets like this?
I didn't think it was one of their best but to hear the rhythmic
complexity on such a good (without being overloud) PA was superb. I love
the way you never know what you will get from them live - I saw them do a
very sparse set last year in a dark Manchester club (Sankeys, fittingly)
but a wonderful set bulging with evolving basslines in a large Leeds venue
more recently. Last night, as for the other two recent sets mentioned,
included looong versions of Envane - but developed differently on each
occasion. There's nobody else even close. Certainly not amongst the other
3 acts tonight.
quoted 1 line Plaid played from 1am until 2.>Plaid played from 1am until 2.
and had loads of their mates in the audience who gave receptions somewhat
out of proportion to the sounds i thought. Some of the tracks were just
getting good but then they kept stopping. I thought that, like Autechre,
they were slightly compromised by the brevity of their slots but I think
it's better live to develop 3 or 4 long tracks a la Ae than 10 different
excerpts a la Plaid. Overall the concert had a nice laid-back atmosphere
though. John Peel got a cheer for pointing out that this was a mercifully
Britpop-free environment!
Cheers,
Jonny