Author: Spirit of Gravity

Now that’s what I call a Spirit of Gravity AV Dance Party

Posted on by Spirit of Gravity

November 2016
Green Door Store

Noisferatu

Noisferatu

Noisferatu start with a gong, a recorded bell and a thunderstorm. Onstage are the masked duo joined by Kev Nickells on what will turn out to be heavily delayed saxophone and at the back of the stage with an easel, artist graham Fletcher. They’re showing their customised sped up version of the 1922 Mernau film. They start slowly with an “All hail Thee Radish” and some pleading for radishes for Graham. Kev Hough wanders about, clanking percussion, Carl creates the drones and beats, Kev N works up a pattern of skronk, It’s some kind of beat nightmare and all starts to slip and slur. Kev H gets to work on a dulcimer, as everything blurs into terrifying drones, the painting is revealed as a portrait of Vlad the Impaler in vermilion powder paint. The radish chant restarts and they do the dance and troop off single file.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOcVj2cs6Us

Timeron

Timeron

Timeron is James, he sets up just in front of the mixing desk looking at the stage so he can see his visuals, and not get in the way. He’s running an AV synth setup, so everything he does with the controls impacts on both the tones and visuals. It’s a pretty sweet setup, nice tonal electronics, very rhythmic with almost oscilloscope visuals for a lot of it, lovely green swathes of colour dancing around the screen. We also had some folk dancing around on the floor, too. It’s not the first time we’ve had dancing at SoG, but I wouldn’t go as far a to say it was the 5th. There’s a nice radiophonic techno feel to it. Warm and analogue but not too dense. And you can see exactly how the sound and visuals fit together, there’s some nice bits where one colour is pulsing with the bass while we see washes of colour swirl the drones around the screen.

Isn’tses

Isntses

My recollection of Isn’tses seems to bear no relation with the clips I’ve got: my mind says, crazy rhythmic structures – trance party vibes, but twisted; nothing at all like the Harsh Noise Walls I know these acts for – yet the videos are both blasts of adrenaline. There’s one that at least looks like the “Subterranneans from Stingray having a rave-up” that I remember, but is plastered by a heavy bass noise wash, with Lisa’s growling vocals 5 or 6 octaves below where her voice would normally be. The masks and her reflective suit look the part very much though. They too have a video synth, but theirs generates small regular pseudo geometria, that don’t tie up so closely with the sound.
To be fair they do blast the start with some Heavy beats, before slipping into some pretty noisy interludes and sliding out with voices and a simple if irregular beat.

Other material available online

Carl Anderson posted video of Noisferatu and Timeron on Vimeo
vimeo.com/album/4237544

Agata Urbaniak’s fantastic quality photos of the night:
www.flickr.com/photos/agataurbaniak/sets/72157676037974096

Plus the whole Isn’tses set is available on Bandcamp:
isntses.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-of-gravity-brighton/

Motionless on the Roman underground

Posted on by Spirit of Gravity

October 2016
Green Door Store

Steve Gisby

Steve Gisby

Steve Gisby introduces his set as an iterative set based on a sample from the London Underground. He explains the process in a bit more detail actually (you can read an online version here) it starts as a short repeating block of agreeable but white noise that opens out into what’s recognisable as a tube announcement looping, as we listen more layers come in, there’s one layer that has the rhythm of a train passing over points – but I’m pretty sure just that rhythm is a part of the process rather than anything particular for this evening. It quickly reaches a level of almost stasis, where you start to get sucked into details – the announcement loop shortens until the recognisable voice elements are gone and it sounds like a snare drum with the snare itself dropped bashing away. A wheel squeak whine comes slowly up out of the clatter which becomes chopped into another layer of two noted rhythm, things have fallen imperceptibly away, the noise elements shifting into tonal qualities and then the chop comes in to slice things up into a gated beat to close. Its almost syncopated.

You&TH

You&TH

Another set that starts with an introduction – I do like artists who communicate. Maria Marzaoli starts her set with “Fenesta ca lucive” a piece she did at Infrasection, Its an old song written for an old style Tenor, but her version is outstanding. She starts with field recordings from an Italian street, bells, footsteps and her voice low in the mix thin and plaintive.
The scene shifts to a café, someone else is singing and a family gathers while she starts to play her violin back against a previous version on the backing track. I seriously want to cry. Beautiful stuff. The piece finishes with sounds like a fishing trip while Maria sings again.
Her second piece is really empty a field recording of what sounds like a pretty intensely hot midday while she scratches out some unpleasant creaking loops of violin bow noise. Occasionally a squeak or a flurry of clean notes, a playground swing, distant bark. I feel creeped out fearing a zombie attack in a spaghetti western set. The final piece is based around a recording of the beach, Maria reciting verse too quietly for me to discern, she wrenches even more unpleasant sounds from her violin for this one – a base metal drum being hauled over concrete, plucked notes, delayed, train whistles, parched.
Before ending on a repeated lyrical thread that builds to a climax for the end.

The Static Memories with Al Strachan

Map71

Gus Garside starts the Static Memories set with some strokes of his bow across the double bass through the effects to through us off our track.
Alistair Strachan breathes through his cornet into a double effects chain and Dan Powell gets some unplaceable whirrs. For the three of them this may be an even Quieter and emptier set than Maria’s. sounds come and go, digital warbles, distant taps and clanks odd lengthy notes from the other side of space. Occasionally something of a melancholy tune escapes from Al and spreads itself gently through the sound stage. Gus may gently remind of his instruments range and dexterity, or Dan take some stately ascent into hyperspace. One of the oddest moments comes with Gus singing into god-knows-what effect that chirrups his voice into unintelligible electronic burblings. There is little in the way of melodic content, but the confluence of sounds between the three of them (or any two as often one will sit out) can conjure wonderful images. There is a rhythm at one stage. Drum machined, simple, flanged into some kind of muffled shimmer. It’s another rather lovely set.

3rd November at the Green Door Store: Timeron / Noisferatu / Isn’tses

Posted on by Spirit of Gravity

sog-nov-16

Timeron
Analogue Tramlines session all synth action

Timeron has decided to limit their possibilities using, as as a core, real-time non binary oscillations. Polyphony is less, samples craved. dodgy palette. The space in the box is important, feeding live sonic transmissions of air apparent electricity. the body speaks, those given voices speak from a vantage point suspended by a stale disbelief. Let it be known, Slick Rick has made it clear he wants absolutely no gaps or cracks. business stress.
He has always been a source of amusement throughout history. Why do these taste-makers exist? Time to step cautiously, no funky stuff, no guff.

Back to the plan, the sequencer styled 90’s. It doesn’t care about its groovy font…just an old worker. punch in the data, midi streams for clunky human expressions. ‘why are you doing that?’ says RM1x. T: ‘maybe to talk of some place in the mind lost or forgotten’ . R: ‘but in doing so you lose. with such repeats. the fleeting emotion that empowers is lost’ T: ‘ true, anyway all that rich analogue data is barely perceptible, by the time its shat out of a Microsoft’ R: ‘ are you suggesting that nothing can be communicated through these midi mutterings I am sending to those oscillators?’ T: ‘ I like your buttons’
timeronweb.tumblr.com

Noisferatu
All Hail thee Radish: invocation

Noisferatu are a masked duo who have urged audiences to Hail Thee Radish in their dark sonic occult rituals. These rituals are improvised journeys filled with darkly absurd imagery and veneration of thee radish. Live the rituals feature radishes, incense, chalk sigils (often crude an vaguely obscene) and guest performers (guitarists, sound manipulators, dancers, Rappers, vocalists, percussionists). Thee rituals always last 666 seconds. ALL HAIL THEE RADISH!!

Isn’tses
AV collaboration:Lisa McKendrick (Listen Lisse);Tim Drage (Cementimental)

audio/visual collaboration
Experimental music using synths, electronics, vocals, circuit bending, live video hardware glitch, webcam and light sculptures.
Members: Lisa McKendrick (Listen Lisse)
Tim Drage (Cementimental)
isntses.weebly.com/

Thursday 3rd November | 8pm – 10.30pm | £5
@ The Green Door Store
Undercroft, Brighton Train Station, BN1 4FQ Brighton

How’d he manage to break that?

Posted on by Spirit of Gravity

September 2016
Green Door Store

Henry Collins – Rummaging

Henry Collins Rummaging

Henry Collins was set up on the floor on one of the oil drum tables with two concrete blocks on top. One supported an expanded polystyrene box from the fruit market big and bassy full of rubble, the other a metal tray, the treble arm of the rummaging body. The mics were stuffed right down into the tray, Henry had cut his hand the night before so was protected by some heavy duty gloves. He starts with an introduction to his philosophy of rummaging, then fairly gently gets into it, pausing briefly to take a pace back before stepping up and getting stuck right in with the almost inevitable climax of the table going over churning the contents of the rummaging boxes onto the stone floor.

Wild Anima

Wild Anima

The rest of the evening was run in conjunction with Blue tapes and X-Ray records who have strong local ties although having artists from all over, starting with Wild Anima from France. She began her set with field recordings and loops ending with fragile more orthodox songs. The first song had loops of rain and water with her vocals echoed back through extra long delays. It wanders through several sections before evolving some nice ticks that turn into a near beat to round off the piece. The second piece works her vocals around a pretty hefty bass drone, with electric piano coming about halfway through and layered up vocals on the backing track. The last song was pretty straightforward after that.

Map71

Map71

Map71 were third up, and continuing their recent run of form – on fire. Their set was about 50% new to me, the new stuff all really good, strong electronic backing tracks and drumming from Andy and Lisa Jayne’s diminutive figure commanding the stage. And the older pieces well chosen. A really strong set well delivered. Sometimes you see someone who really seem to have hit their moment and Map71 seem to be in this position right now. Lisa Jayne ends the set with the book of words behind her back and a small smile.

Benjamin Finger

Benjamin Finger

Benjamin Finger rounded the evening off, another European this time from Norway. It’s a pretty epic set and really feels like he could have settled in and continued playing till around 2am. It starts with thick, thick washes of synths with shudders and bells smeared over it. Scatterings of percussion come and go without doing much more than indicating at a rhythm. Things naturally seem to chunk up into songs based around sounds or sets of samples, but the timbres seem pretty steady all the way through. There are hints of ambience or dark basses from more recent genres. Yeah good, great LP for sale, too.

eo_embed]

Theme: Avant by Kaira