il y a quarante ans, quelques pionniers, dont les désormais cultes comus, associaient pour la première fois la musique folk aux voies progressives et expérimentales. ce mélange est à nouveau d’actualité depuis quelques années, au travers de la scène «freak folk» américaine, ou encore du renouveau psychédélique provenant de suède. l’anglais sand snowman s’inscrit dans cette tradition. déjà auteur de plusieurs autoproductions, ce guitariste émérite a récemment croisé le chemin de steven wilson, qui l’a présenté au label tonefloat et qui ne tarit pas d’éloges à l'égard de son protégé et qui n’a d’ailleurs pas hésité à nous remettre en mains propres son nouvel album pour que nous le chroniquions !
ce two way mirror doit-il son appellation à sa dualité? on pourrait presque diviser les titres de l’album en deux catégories. une moitié est chantée par un casting d’invités, basés le plus souvent sur des arpèges de guitare finement ciselées et sur des ambiances gothiques éthérées, évoquent l’angleterre victorienne des films de tim burton. l’auteur se permet çà et là quelques fantaisies (rythmique bossa, dissonances) mais l’ensemble reste sobre et très accessible. steven wilson intervient notamment sur deux morceaux et s’en sort très honorablement sur des parties pourtant plus exigeantes techniquement qu’à son habitude. le musicien folk jason ninnis et la chanteuse moonswift s'en partagent trois autres, le plus souvent en duo, leurs voix se mariant à merveille.
l’autre moitié du disque est instrumentale et bien plus difficile d’accès, car l’artiste y dévoile sa facette la plus expérimentale. il déploie un large panel d’ambiances et d’instruments (rythmiques crimsoniennes, pianos sépulcraux, soundscapes menaçants), pour un résultat fort intéressant mais pas toujours très digeste. on pourrait facilement reprocher à sand snowman de trop se disperser sur cette office, mais certains jugeront que ce côté « bric à brac » fait partie de son charme. Les amateurs de folk psychédélique devraient aisément y trouver leur compte.
source: progressia
tonefloat live: fear falls burning, theo travis, sand snowman (5)
a third and final date at movie in bielefeld (germany) has been added to the late march / early april tonefloat live series of concerts. tickets are available here.
with exciting new albums out in 2009, tonefloat is pleased to announce a short series of tonefloat label nights in holland, belgium and germany. with exclusive performances by fear falls burning, theo travis, and sand snowman, the evenings will showcase music from new and recent albums. the evenings also mark the first european mainland performances ever by theo travis (as a solo artist) and sand snowman, so be there! theo travis and dirk serries (fear falls burning) will also join forces for a one-off duo-performance at these concerts.
every visitor will receive a free sand snowman sampler cd
the following dates are confirmed and on sale now:
monday 30 march - spirit of 66, verviers (belgium)
tuesday 31 march - movie, bielefeld (germany) »
tix
wednesday 1 april - paradox, tilburg (holland)
with exciting new albums out in 2009, tonefloat is pleased to announce a short series of tonefloat label nights in holland, belgium and germany. with exclusive performances by fear falls burning, theo travis, and sand snowman, the evenings will showcase music from new and recent albums. the evenings also mark the first european mainland performances ever by theo travis (as a solo artist) and sand snowman, so be there! theo travis and dirk serries (fear falls burning) will also join forces for a one-off duo-performance at these concerts.
every visitor will receive a free sand snowman sampler cd
the following dates are confirmed and on sale now:
monday 30 march - spirit of 66, verviers (belgium)
tuesday 31 march - movie, bielefeld (germany) »
tix
wednesday 1 april - paradox, tilburg (holland)
microphonics vi
dirk serries will perform a microphonics gig as part of an opening ceremony for artist piet dielemans at nestruimte, in the hague, holland, on the thursday february 26.
tf059, a review (2)
because tonefloat says that sand snowman is a '21st century continuation of a tradition which began with artists like the incredible string band and nick drake', i took their latest release 'two way mirror' to someone who loves nick drake and asked for his opinion, since i thought it wouldn't be anything for vital. unfortunately my friend didn't like it either. what to do? thinking of all the various writers for vital weekly, i couldn't picture who this might review. don't get me wrong: this is not a bad cd at all. it just moves far away from the usual pack of sounds here. sand snowman plays melodic guitar music, with vocals by guest vocalists like moonswift, jason ninnis and steven wilson, cello, xylophone, flutes and is throughout folk like, ambient even, especially in the long instrumental passages that are part of this music. it's that particular thing i like about this cd, but the singing is something i have a bit of trouble with, and which didn't do it for me, but also makes it hard, if not impossible to say anything decent about it. great cover though, great instrumental parts.
source: vital weekly
source: vital weekly
tf060, a review
our man dirk serries, guitarist these days as fear falls burning, former electronic specialist as vidnaObmana, is a busy man. playing concerts everywhere, releasing an endless string of beautiful records. here he teams up with one theo travis, of whom i never heard, and who gets credit for 'trevor james alto flutes and uses the travis system of ambitronics' - which, by just listening to the sound of it, is much a like fear falls burning, an effective use all those things that make sound going into a loop, while being able to play on top of them. it's a simply but highly effective procedure to create ambient slash drone music. somewhere in the springtime of 2008 they recorded two side long pieces. each of the pieces start with one artist: dirk's guitar opens 'the lamentation returns' and theo's flute on 'melancholy of the masses', but both quickly unfold in a majestic tapestry of sound, in which guitar and flute seem to melt into eachother. of course i could question wether this sounds 'new', and perhaps i should, but i don't. somehow I don't think serries cares very much about innovating the sound and the methods he is using (i don't know for travis of course), but he rather cares for reaching out to just beautiful music. which in itself is not a bad thing either, of course. perhaps the only real guidance for good music. innovation - so often the guiding principle of vital weekly - is just one thing, but perhaps only valid for those tired reviewer ears, craving to hear something new - but in the end, even we realize, its beauty that counts. and in the capable hands of fear falls burning this is well taken care of. these sessions proof this once again. following his string of solo releases, the time is just more than right i guess to explore his guitar playing in collaboration with others. following his work with kptmichigan (see vital weekly 653), which was good, this one is a new step up. this is even better.
source: vital weekly
source: vital weekly
tf059, a review
like a beautiful trilogy with a comparable compositional concept this is the third lp (now also on a mini-double lp sleeve cd). the backing vocalists are steven wilson (porcupine tree), jason ninnis and moonswift. the whole album sounds like a well thought over large composition in different sections and with a natural, semi-improvisational nature. the mood brings you in an eternal timeless atmosphere where everything seems to disappear except sound and its visions expressed in time and harmony signatures. the acoustic guitar (or two) lead more often these quiet themes, while distant electrified guitars bring textures and confirm the feeling of being at that time in a bubble in space. when piano is added, this can change into a contemporary classical atmosphere, as something of a 20s 30s time adventurous perspective. sometimes this piano is quite as well. the intensity of this meditative different time-perspective can be intense in its minimal character, while textures surrounds and before like on one part other elements appear, when a voice comes in at a certain point it sounds as if this is a cello part for a classical composition. the whole music enfolds like colours seen from a drifting boat. but also songs are added or better said are part of the transformation of moods. harmony vocals, flute arrangements all are able to become part of this expression. and even a few more rhythmical parts direct towards an almost more relative poppy approach, while remaining a distant perspective away from this world. in the quietest passages some bass sounds can swell into it, or small reverb tensions from the same guitar. possibly there was much improvisation involved, but the intention of keeping it together is very strong too. at times you think this is almost classical, but also progressive, not only in the parts with a little bit of drums and bass and electrified guitar, but also in the most abstract acoustic meanders. another rather brilliant album, from a highly recommended pair of three.
source: psyche van 't folk
source: psyche van 't folk
tf066, a review (4)
at paradiso, amsterdam's venue for the adventurous extremes of musical life, i saw fear falls burning. in a tiny venue, with about 50 people standing in front of a small stage, a lone guitarist, dirk serries (whose former nom de plume was vidnaObmana) produced an inexorable tsunami of guitar drones. from the simplest of musical material - a minor arpeggio, a simple loop - he conjured a physical musical experience that was huge in scale, and monumental in its sonic sophistication. building up layers of distortion, pedal effects and overtones, this was guitar-playing as sound sculpture. there were three gigantic movements in his set, the final one built on a drum pattern as well as his guitar riffs (the slowest 4/4 rhythmic pattern i've ever heard, only amplifying the sense of grand, ritualistic stasis of the music). he closed with a moment of musical theatre, leaving the stage and letting his loops and riffs build towards a moment of ear-shattering intensity - and then cutting off abruptly, leaving a shocked and shocking silence. brilliant.
source: the guardian
source: the guardian
concertzender
dutch radio station concertzender will play large selections of the tonefloat sessions by theo travis // fear falls burning, and two way mirror by sand snowman in it's actua programme, on 26 february, from 11-12am. actua can be listened to live but also be podcasted.
since its start in 1982 the concertzender is known for its remarkable and adventurous programming. genuine jazz, rare recordings from private music collections, historical recordings, concert recordings of (still) unknown musicians and spectacular non-western music are all part of the concertzender's unique sound.
source: concertzender
since its start in 1982 the concertzender is known for its remarkable and adventurous programming. genuine jazz, rare recordings from private music collections, historical recordings, concert recordings of (still) unknown musicians and spectacular non-western music are all part of the concertzender's unique sound.
source: concertzender
tf066, a review (3)
”theo travis wegens sneeuw afgelast.” op de deur van paradiso wappert een briefje. okee, het is guur. tegen het onaangenaam koud aan. maar sneeuw? ah, die blijkt in engeland gevallen… travis haalt het dus niet naar de avond die zijn label tonefloat organiseert. jammer! collega’s sand snowman en fear falls burning zijn er wel.
hoe het beste een avond als deze te omschrijven? het valt niet mee. de optredende artiesten kunnen muzikaal niet verder uit elkaar liggen. sand snowman zit in het donker met en blauw spotje op de snoet gericht en speelt één lange akoestische psychedelische folkset. laten we het zo maar nomen. muziek die het beste gedijt in een donkere kamer. met een kaarsje aan. wierookje er bij. en dan de ogen dicht. meezweven. in de bovenzaal van paradiso heb je echter een erg vervelend krakende vloer. dus bij tijd en wijle wordt de set bruut gestoord door krakende vloerpanelen. draagt niet bij aan de sfeer. het publiek is echter muisstil en luistert bijna ademloos toe. mooi optreden. later deze maand lees je op zeenz.nl muziek een recensie van de sand snowman cd.
de pauzemuziek is zacht gezegd niet heel sfeerbevorderend. het is een onheilspellende kakofonie die menig bezoeker happend naar lucht even de gang op jaagt. of misschien was dat juist wel de bedoeling. want fear falls burning (antwerpenaar dirk serries) stapelt ook muzieklaag op muzieklaag door middel van gitaar, toetsen en een sampler totdat er een brei ontstaat die als een blok beton op de maag ligt en die een laag smeer de oren inslingert om een jaar mee voort te kunnen. je moet er van houden. dat is misschien een dooddoener, maar wel helemaal waar in dit geval. de geluidsmeter schiet regelmatig boven de 110 dba uit, dus van krakende vloer had fear falls burning geen seconde last. eerder andersom waarschijnlijk.
toch is het uiteindelijk wel een indrukwekkend optreden. ook al is theo travis, met wie hij recent de set tonefloat tessions opnam en ter promotie waarvan dit optreden is, er niet bij. en dan, van het ene op het andere moment, is dirk er klaar mee. hij loopt van het podium, de brei muziek wordt bruut afgebroken en vanuit het publiek staart hij naar zijn opstelling. einde optreden. eigenlijk best wel cool! op 30 maart wordt de avond (mét travis) herhaald in het belgische verviers in spirit of 66. op 1 maart wordt paradox in tilburg aangedaan.
source: zeenz
hoe het beste een avond als deze te omschrijven? het valt niet mee. de optredende artiesten kunnen muzikaal niet verder uit elkaar liggen. sand snowman zit in het donker met en blauw spotje op de snoet gericht en speelt één lange akoestische psychedelische folkset. laten we het zo maar nomen. muziek die het beste gedijt in een donkere kamer. met een kaarsje aan. wierookje er bij. en dan de ogen dicht. meezweven. in de bovenzaal van paradiso heb je echter een erg vervelend krakende vloer. dus bij tijd en wijle wordt de set bruut gestoord door krakende vloerpanelen. draagt niet bij aan de sfeer. het publiek is echter muisstil en luistert bijna ademloos toe. mooi optreden. later deze maand lees je op zeenz.nl muziek een recensie van de sand snowman cd.
de pauzemuziek is zacht gezegd niet heel sfeerbevorderend. het is een onheilspellende kakofonie die menig bezoeker happend naar lucht even de gang op jaagt. of misschien was dat juist wel de bedoeling. want fear falls burning (antwerpenaar dirk serries) stapelt ook muzieklaag op muzieklaag door middel van gitaar, toetsen en een sampler totdat er een brei ontstaat die als een blok beton op de maag ligt en die een laag smeer de oren inslingert om een jaar mee voort te kunnen. je moet er van houden. dat is misschien een dooddoener, maar wel helemaal waar in dit geval. de geluidsmeter schiet regelmatig boven de 110 dba uit, dus van krakende vloer had fear falls burning geen seconde last. eerder andersom waarschijnlijk.
toch is het uiteindelijk wel een indrukwekkend optreden. ook al is theo travis, met wie hij recent de set tonefloat tessions opnam en ter promotie waarvan dit optreden is, er niet bij. en dan, van het ene op het andere moment, is dirk er klaar mee. hij loopt van het podium, de brei muziek wordt bruut afgebroken en vanuit het publiek staart hij naar zijn opstelling. einde optreden. eigenlijk best wel cool! op 30 maart wordt de avond (mét travis) herhaald in het belgische verviers in spirit of 66. op 1 maart wordt paradox in tilburg aangedaan.
source: zeenz
tf066, a review (2)
op maandag 2 februari staat de eerste labelnacht, in een serie van drie, op de agenda van het tonefloat label uit Rotterdam. sinds de tweede helft van de jaren negentig verspreidt tonefloat eigenzinnige klank-, geluid- en muziekbewerkingen. veelal wordt het werk vastgelegd op gelimiteerde lp’s met schitterend vormgegeven hoezen. hiermee kunnen de naar strange folk, dark ambiënt, industrial, noise en drone zoekende muziekliefhebbers hun behoeften op gepaste wijze bevredigen.
2009 opent tonefloat met twee uitgaven. de tonefloat sessions zijn vastgelegd door dirk serries aka fear falls burning en theo travis. deze opnamen zijn alleen beschikbaar als lp. en two way mirror is het derde album op tonefloat van sand snowman. two way mirror is als lp verkrijgbaar, maar kent ook een dubbel cd versie, waarbij als extraatje the magpie house cd is toegevoegd.
de eerste presentatie in paradiso is geheel in de lijn van de hierboven genoemde releases. helaas dat voor deze eerste gelegenheid de weersomstandigheden roet in het eten gooien. theo travis kan niet worden ingevlogen vanaf london city airport. het tonefloat programma wordt daardoor wat magertjes. en dat heeft ook alles te maken met de opening van sand snowman. het gitaarstuk dat snowman ten gehore brengt staat in schril contrast tot het materiaal dat via tonefloat wordt verspreid. de tonefloat-albums brengen arrangementen ten gehore, waarbij een fascinerend samenspel tussen gitaar, piano en vocale harmonieën is te horen. tijdens het concert in paradiso speelt snowman één geïmproviseerd gitaarstuk. wel degelijk komen elementen uit zijn albumwerk daarin terug, maar in zijn gitaarspel is snowman weinig ritme vast. meegaan in zijn fijnzinnige flow kost moeite. aan het einde blijft er een flinterdun en rafelig gevoel over en beantwoord snowman niet aan de verwachtingen.
fear falls burning treedt aan zonder de ingesneeuwde theo travis. fear falls burning is een vaste waarde in het drone-metal circuit. en met de drie lange 'geïmproviseerde' stukken die serries ten gehore brengt bewijst hij andermaal een meester te zijn in het presenteren van de ultieme geluids-drone. natuurlijk vaart fear falls burning mee op de succesformule van de drone-metal, maar in het genre staat hij wel op eenzame hoogte. een muur van geluid creëren is op zich niet zo moeilijk. een transparante geluidsmuur opbouwen waarbij je mag rondwentelen in een warme alles omsluitende deken van onder- en boventonen behoort tot de hogere kunsten. vakkundig koerst serries een aantal malen richting climax. gelukzaligheid is het gevolg. dus mocht fear falls burning ooit zijn klankentapijten zat zijn, dan is er altijd nog zoiets als het beroep van muziektherapeut. kom ik voor het eerste consult.
source: gonzo circus
2009 opent tonefloat met twee uitgaven. de tonefloat sessions zijn vastgelegd door dirk serries aka fear falls burning en theo travis. deze opnamen zijn alleen beschikbaar als lp. en two way mirror is het derde album op tonefloat van sand snowman. two way mirror is als lp verkrijgbaar, maar kent ook een dubbel cd versie, waarbij als extraatje the magpie house cd is toegevoegd.
de eerste presentatie in paradiso is geheel in de lijn van de hierboven genoemde releases. helaas dat voor deze eerste gelegenheid de weersomstandigheden roet in het eten gooien. theo travis kan niet worden ingevlogen vanaf london city airport. het tonefloat programma wordt daardoor wat magertjes. en dat heeft ook alles te maken met de opening van sand snowman. het gitaarstuk dat snowman ten gehore brengt staat in schril contrast tot het materiaal dat via tonefloat wordt verspreid. de tonefloat-albums brengen arrangementen ten gehore, waarbij een fascinerend samenspel tussen gitaar, piano en vocale harmonieën is te horen. tijdens het concert in paradiso speelt snowman één geïmproviseerd gitaarstuk. wel degelijk komen elementen uit zijn albumwerk daarin terug, maar in zijn gitaarspel is snowman weinig ritme vast. meegaan in zijn fijnzinnige flow kost moeite. aan het einde blijft er een flinterdun en rafelig gevoel over en beantwoord snowman niet aan de verwachtingen.
fear falls burning treedt aan zonder de ingesneeuwde theo travis. fear falls burning is een vaste waarde in het drone-metal circuit. en met de drie lange 'geïmproviseerde' stukken die serries ten gehore brengt bewijst hij andermaal een meester te zijn in het presenteren van de ultieme geluids-drone. natuurlijk vaart fear falls burning mee op de succesformule van de drone-metal, maar in het genre staat hij wel op eenzame hoogte. een muur van geluid creëren is op zich niet zo moeilijk. een transparante geluidsmuur opbouwen waarbij je mag rondwentelen in een warme alles omsluitende deken van onder- en boventonen behoort tot de hogere kunsten. vakkundig koerst serries een aantal malen richting climax. gelukzaligheid is het gevolg. dus mocht fear falls burning ooit zijn klankentapijten zat zijn, dan is er altijd nog zoiets als het beroep van muziektherapeut. kom ik voor het eerste consult.
source: gonzo circus
tf066, a review (1)
there was a time when record companies were like families and label executives would come across as a comforting crossbreed between your best friend and your parents: they would guide you, support you, push you if necessary and party with you whenever possible and they'd try to keep you from doing stupid things. most importantly, they would take pride in what you were doing and award a meaning to your music even if unsympathetic critics and displeased audiences "just didn't get it". in short: they would bring out the best in you. this is the kind of ideal tonefloat records are striving for. the relationship between management and artists is marked by mutual respect and active input by musicians is encouraged rather than being considered a nuisance. this wave of fruitful friendship and trust carries me weightlessly into the small hall of paradiso, just like you would be drawn into your mother's kitchen by the the sweet and irresistible smell of hot cocoa and freshly baked biscuits. it certainly doesn't take long to feel at home here: all around me, there is a lot of backpatting, handshaking, smiling and embracing being done, memories to be refreshed and biographies to be updated.
there is also a lot of open appreciation for the choice of venue, one of the netherland's most legendary concert spaces: the stately facade of paradiso, a detached mansion sandwiched in between hip asian restaurants and regular residential buildings just a stone's throw off amsterdam's umbilical square leidseplein, belies the eclectic and delectable programming, which has kept it at the forefront of europe's live scene for decades: later this week, funksoul star chaka hhan will perform two completely sold-out sets of her classics, children of bodom and cannibal corpse will satisfy fans of extreme metal while to-die-for icelandic singer/songwriter emiliana torrini has been scheduled to make a highly anticipated appearance at the end of the month.
bad news first though: tonight's lost son is theo travis, whose set of ambient flute was to make a transition between the intimate acoustic guitar work of sand snowman and the sizzling elecricities of fear falls burning. just this morning, however, global warming, generally considered a reliable partner, put a frosty spoke in his car's wheels: a sudden snow storm literally froze his itinary. there was a lot of hectic debate and for a moment, the idea of taking the train was discussed, which would have had travis arriving at amsterdam central station dead on time but without a single second's worth of sound-checking, but the immanent risk of just one of the connections being delayed and thus derailing this tour de force after all, was simply considered too high. at first, his trade-mark ambitronics, whose soft shapes would have made for a perfect moment of tonefloating tranquility, seem sadly missed but their absence turns out to be anything but detrimental to the evening's success: the combination of two musicians, each working with the guitar in a highly idiosyncratic and recognisable fashion, will prove to be a highly effective one and the seeming incompatibility of their approaches a stimulating contrast.
both artists, after all, are fully prepared to see the stage as a testing ground for new ideas and to take risks in front of an audience instead of blandly catering to demands. the sand snowman gig is a great example of this philosophy. tonight marks the release of the project's third full-length two way mirror, an album whose compositional merrits and striking guest appearances by steven wilson among others, have created expectations of an immanent breakthrough and wider recognition. most artists would have used this opportunity to play it safe and give in to commercial pressure. not sand, however. even though a final evaluation of two way mirror still seems premature at this point, first impressions undeniably reveal it to be a private and beautifully bewildering effort rather than an extrovert stab at stardom. and while his recorded output is courageous because it dares to integrate even the most lyrical of melodies into a psychedelic maelstrom of surreal metaphors, his live performance is doubly so because it wilfully refuses to merely replicate these twisted songs on stage.
in fact, not only have the chamber musical arrangements of the studio cuts been replaced by a spartanically stripped-down approach, the entire notion of song structures has been all but eliminated. vocals and incisions between tracks have disappeared and made way for an almost classical reinterpretation of the sand snowman cosmos. dressed in black, sand is bent over his instrument like an introvert flamenco guitarist, stringing together themes of his entire oeuvre into a congruent concerto. after the initial bout of confusion has subsided, this concept makes complete sense. even on more richly orchestrated efforts like i'm not here and the twilight game, lyrics were used in the most subtle way imaginable and with utmost respect for the integrity and fragility of the instrumental backbone of a piece. the human voice was never a tool to create thematic tension but a sort of sonic grounding: as soon as singers like moonswift and jason ninnis took their leave, the music immediately lifted off into a higher orbit, just like a helium-inflated, brightly coloured balloon escaping the hands of an inattentive child on a fairground.
sand taps into this sphere right from the start and it takes a couple of minutes to finetune one's senses to this sensitive ambiance. but after your mind have been attuned, the result is mesmerising and the hypnotic character of the music, which suddenly no longer seems that minimal, is just as nuanced and detailed as on the cd with all of its its electronic effects and band connotations. the almost absolute silence of the audience during the performance, careful not to disturb his flow by coughing, sneezing or chatting, is testimony to the effectiveness of his philosophy. caught in this tender trance, 25 minutes feel like a borderless ocean of time and before you know it, the gig is over and the intermission has begun. after my eyes have adjusted to the light again, sand has already disappeared backstage – or was he ever here in the first place?
the presentation of fear falls burning has a similarly stimulating concoction of recognition and estrangement on offer. dirk serries has performed at paradiso's far bigger main hall before, but with regards to that earlier visit being part of a festival and of his vidnaObmana phase, tonight effectively feels like a premiere after all. his set for the evening is divided into three distinctly delineated sections: a halucinatory rendition of "he contemplates the sign", a brand-new passage and a finale featuring the second part of the title track to his frenzy of the absolute album from last year on conspiracy records. the fluency of the transitions between these movements is impressive, even the critical moment when the electronic drumkit sets in towards the climax of the performance and the tribal atmospheres take on a far more concrete character, blends in all but seamlessly with the preceding drone work. there is a great sense of both control and engrossed concentration running through the gig: "contemplates" sounds delirious, with ghostly harmonics pulsating feverishly on top of the track's mantric riff and the live version of frenzy has mutated into a gripping meditation, pushing forward with brutish power. while the studio cut had a cool, industrial touch to it and the interpretation of his support gig for no-man in düsseldorf gradually sublimated into a shimmering piece of space rock, the latest incarnation of the composition emphasises the prismic textures simmering and growing underneath the percussion.
part of how effective this piece is on stage is down to the direction on the part of serries' longstanding partner in sound, ronald mariën. where others would strive for a blurry or swampy audio image, his achievement lies in creating a sound which is both crystaline and crunching. as the music approaches its climax, you think to yourself: it can't go any louder, it can't get any more momentuous, there's not a single line to add. and then another guitar pulse hits your ears with stupenduous precision, pushing the adrenaline level up in sync with the club's decibel measuring device. the importance of mixing also shows in the middle segment, based on rhythmically tweetering subsonics, a pensive melodic loop and scintillating sheets of deep sonorities. as the arrangement grows tighter, the music approaches a wave-like state, where all frequencies coallesce into a single, complex, physical undulation, bypassing the brain and setting your entire body in motion. motives and harmonies can no longer be discerned, all thematic lines aligne into a bulbously bulging bundle of fulminant frequency, flooding the room like congealed, viscous liquid. as serries reveals after the concert, it is a vision he is still working on, but if this is a sign of where the new fear falls burning full-length is headed, then it will be anything but a simple rehash of frenzy of the absolute.
as on previous occasions, serries leaves the stage at the acme of his set to allow the machines to play a few bars on their own, wandering through the audience and towards the mixing desk where mariën raises the volume yet another notch, setting the audience's pulse rate on fire. for a few seconds, serries enjoys the result of what he has just created, like a painter standing back from his latest image to gauge its effect on the eye. then, with a decided push of the button, he ends the concert as abruptly as it started. the thundering applause he receives is testimony both to the by now wide appreciation his music is capable of evoking and of the success of the evening's eclectic and undaunting program. most of all, it ridicules the notion that only a stern and cool distance between artists and public can yield impressive results.
afterwards, noone leaves straight away, the public taking in the afterglow of what they have just experienced and promising to attend at least one of the upcoming follow-up gigs in tilburg and verviers. as the hall slowly empties to the sound of dj maarten van der vleuten, whose wildly diverse and yet wonderfully well-adjusted interludes are essentially a bonus gig in their own right, it really feels like a family gathering coming to a close.
even the next day, the unhurried pace continues. much too early, i take my seat in the all but empty pub which serves as the diner of my cheap hotel, firmly resolved to finish my concert report during breakfast, when a friendly black cat jumps into my lap, demanding with a warm but insisting meow, to be stroked. it is impossible to refuse. sipping my coffee and watching the waiters wait for work, i fondle her soft fur. there's more important duties than writing to attend to right now.
source: tokafi
there is also a lot of open appreciation for the choice of venue, one of the netherland's most legendary concert spaces: the stately facade of paradiso, a detached mansion sandwiched in between hip asian restaurants and regular residential buildings just a stone's throw off amsterdam's umbilical square leidseplein, belies the eclectic and delectable programming, which has kept it at the forefront of europe's live scene for decades: later this week, funksoul star chaka hhan will perform two completely sold-out sets of her classics, children of bodom and cannibal corpse will satisfy fans of extreme metal while to-die-for icelandic singer/songwriter emiliana torrini has been scheduled to make a highly anticipated appearance at the end of the month.
bad news first though: tonight's lost son is theo travis, whose set of ambient flute was to make a transition between the intimate acoustic guitar work of sand snowman and the sizzling elecricities of fear falls burning. just this morning, however, global warming, generally considered a reliable partner, put a frosty spoke in his car's wheels: a sudden snow storm literally froze his itinary. there was a lot of hectic debate and for a moment, the idea of taking the train was discussed, which would have had travis arriving at amsterdam central station dead on time but without a single second's worth of sound-checking, but the immanent risk of just one of the connections being delayed and thus derailing this tour de force after all, was simply considered too high. at first, his trade-mark ambitronics, whose soft shapes would have made for a perfect moment of tonefloating tranquility, seem sadly missed but their absence turns out to be anything but detrimental to the evening's success: the combination of two musicians, each working with the guitar in a highly idiosyncratic and recognisable fashion, will prove to be a highly effective one and the seeming incompatibility of their approaches a stimulating contrast.
both artists, after all, are fully prepared to see the stage as a testing ground for new ideas and to take risks in front of an audience instead of blandly catering to demands. the sand snowman gig is a great example of this philosophy. tonight marks the release of the project's third full-length two way mirror, an album whose compositional merrits and striking guest appearances by steven wilson among others, have created expectations of an immanent breakthrough and wider recognition. most artists would have used this opportunity to play it safe and give in to commercial pressure. not sand, however. even though a final evaluation of two way mirror still seems premature at this point, first impressions undeniably reveal it to be a private and beautifully bewildering effort rather than an extrovert stab at stardom. and while his recorded output is courageous because it dares to integrate even the most lyrical of melodies into a psychedelic maelstrom of surreal metaphors, his live performance is doubly so because it wilfully refuses to merely replicate these twisted songs on stage.
in fact, not only have the chamber musical arrangements of the studio cuts been replaced by a spartanically stripped-down approach, the entire notion of song structures has been all but eliminated. vocals and incisions between tracks have disappeared and made way for an almost classical reinterpretation of the sand snowman cosmos. dressed in black, sand is bent over his instrument like an introvert flamenco guitarist, stringing together themes of his entire oeuvre into a congruent concerto. after the initial bout of confusion has subsided, this concept makes complete sense. even on more richly orchestrated efforts like i'm not here and the twilight game, lyrics were used in the most subtle way imaginable and with utmost respect for the integrity and fragility of the instrumental backbone of a piece. the human voice was never a tool to create thematic tension but a sort of sonic grounding: as soon as singers like moonswift and jason ninnis took their leave, the music immediately lifted off into a higher orbit, just like a helium-inflated, brightly coloured balloon escaping the hands of an inattentive child on a fairground.
sand taps into this sphere right from the start and it takes a couple of minutes to finetune one's senses to this sensitive ambiance. but after your mind have been attuned, the result is mesmerising and the hypnotic character of the music, which suddenly no longer seems that minimal, is just as nuanced and detailed as on the cd with all of its its electronic effects and band connotations. the almost absolute silence of the audience during the performance, careful not to disturb his flow by coughing, sneezing or chatting, is testimony to the effectiveness of his philosophy. caught in this tender trance, 25 minutes feel like a borderless ocean of time and before you know it, the gig is over and the intermission has begun. after my eyes have adjusted to the light again, sand has already disappeared backstage – or was he ever here in the first place?
the presentation of fear falls burning has a similarly stimulating concoction of recognition and estrangement on offer. dirk serries has performed at paradiso's far bigger main hall before, but with regards to that earlier visit being part of a festival and of his vidnaObmana phase, tonight effectively feels like a premiere after all. his set for the evening is divided into three distinctly delineated sections: a halucinatory rendition of "he contemplates the sign", a brand-new passage and a finale featuring the second part of the title track to his frenzy of the absolute album from last year on conspiracy records. the fluency of the transitions between these movements is impressive, even the critical moment when the electronic drumkit sets in towards the climax of the performance and the tribal atmospheres take on a far more concrete character, blends in all but seamlessly with the preceding drone work. there is a great sense of both control and engrossed concentration running through the gig: "contemplates" sounds delirious, with ghostly harmonics pulsating feverishly on top of the track's mantric riff and the live version of frenzy has mutated into a gripping meditation, pushing forward with brutish power. while the studio cut had a cool, industrial touch to it and the interpretation of his support gig for no-man in düsseldorf gradually sublimated into a shimmering piece of space rock, the latest incarnation of the composition emphasises the prismic textures simmering and growing underneath the percussion.
part of how effective this piece is on stage is down to the direction on the part of serries' longstanding partner in sound, ronald mariën. where others would strive for a blurry or swampy audio image, his achievement lies in creating a sound which is both crystaline and crunching. as the music approaches its climax, you think to yourself: it can't go any louder, it can't get any more momentuous, there's not a single line to add. and then another guitar pulse hits your ears with stupenduous precision, pushing the adrenaline level up in sync with the club's decibel measuring device. the importance of mixing also shows in the middle segment, based on rhythmically tweetering subsonics, a pensive melodic loop and scintillating sheets of deep sonorities. as the arrangement grows tighter, the music approaches a wave-like state, where all frequencies coallesce into a single, complex, physical undulation, bypassing the brain and setting your entire body in motion. motives and harmonies can no longer be discerned, all thematic lines aligne into a bulbously bulging bundle of fulminant frequency, flooding the room like congealed, viscous liquid. as serries reveals after the concert, it is a vision he is still working on, but if this is a sign of where the new fear falls burning full-length is headed, then it will be anything but a simple rehash of frenzy of the absolute.
as on previous occasions, serries leaves the stage at the acme of his set to allow the machines to play a few bars on their own, wandering through the audience and towards the mixing desk where mariën raises the volume yet another notch, setting the audience's pulse rate on fire. for a few seconds, serries enjoys the result of what he has just created, like a painter standing back from his latest image to gauge its effect on the eye. then, with a decided push of the button, he ends the concert as abruptly as it started. the thundering applause he receives is testimony both to the by now wide appreciation his music is capable of evoking and of the success of the evening's eclectic and undaunting program. most of all, it ridicules the notion that only a stern and cool distance between artists and public can yield impressive results.
afterwards, noone leaves straight away, the public taking in the afterglow of what they have just experienced and promising to attend at least one of the upcoming follow-up gigs in tilburg and verviers. as the hall slowly empties to the sound of dj maarten van der vleuten, whose wildly diverse and yet wonderfully well-adjusted interludes are essentially a bonus gig in their own right, it really feels like a family gathering coming to a close.
even the next day, the unhurried pace continues. much too early, i take my seat in the all but empty pub which serves as the diner of my cheap hotel, firmly resolved to finish my concert report during breakfast, when a friendly black cat jumps into my lap, demanding with a warm but insisting meow, to be stroked. it is impossible to refuse. sipping my coffee and watching the waiters wait for work, i fondle her soft fur. there's more important duties than writing to attend to right now.
source: tokafi
tonefloat live: fear falls burning, theo travis, sand snowman (4)
due to the heavy snow in england, all planes and trains to the netherlands are cancelled. theo travis' appearance at tonefloat live has been cancelled due do this. the performances by sand snowman and fear falls burning go ahead as planned. we apologise for any inconvenience.
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