Saturday 19 January 2013

Live Blog From the New Projects Weekend (2)



Over to The Art School for Caries. It sounds like mating elephants down there as we make our way in: inside, it is more delicate. It’s one man and his guitar, toying with feedback and distortion in the time-honoured style. Rudimentary melodies feed over the loudspeakers, moaning and howling at themselves. This is not unpleasant. Obviously, the volume is a feature, and there’s no attempt to develop song structure. Given that it’s an event that is all about the emerging artist, there will be a fair amount of experimentation. Caries is sat on stage, testing what happens if he uses this pedal at that volume…
Sonic Youth were up to this, long before they became Sonic Adults and divided their output between contemporary classical and alternative rock. It’s questionable whether music with a strong lineage can be really experimental – this interrogation of the guitar’s potential is well documented already. The format of the gig is deceptive. Caries is making meditative soundscapes. It’s desolate, lonely but warm: the guitar provides a humanity that laptops can’t, even when they are sampling guitars.
There ought to be enough absurdity in that sentence to inspire someone to deconstruct my assumptions. Perhaps it is the lack of percussion, but Caries is easier on the ear than Princess NRG.
I just remembered that Eric likes jazz, and I have dragged him into a day of noise and provocations. Do I have a moral responsibility to him as a collaborator, or is it okay for me to throw this at him? Equally, what about the artists? Writing live reviews is a bit of a challenge for me, but does it do justice to the art? I am not giving myself time to recollect in peace.
Caries has gone very early 1980s Sonic Youth now. He’s picking his way through a tentative solo, plenty of harmonics, clashing and clanging unfamiliar chords. The feedback follows his lead, like a cloak dragging behind the music.
This is very beautiful. I suppose experimental music is all about imagining other worlds where this is played in a more public arena. Princess NRG was in a science fiction future – we probably live in one of those now – while this is the chamber music of a melancholy court, their hero was sent into battle and died when he saved the city.

Hey Eric: I am going upstairs to get a coffee and a signal for the net…

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