Live Review: 6_a Compilation Launch @ Brisbane Hotel 4/6/10

To celebrate the launch of Three Minutes In A Carpark, a compilation collated by Jordan Marson featuring artists who have played at 6_a over the years, four different acts took to the stage (and floor) of the Brisbane Hotel. Noise artists Cycle and Chrysalis, both from the 6_a CD, started off the evening, followed by the first sighting of the Hobart Improvisation Collective and concluding with Melbourne's New Estate. Spoiler: it was great.

The set up for James Baker's set as Cycle was very modest: a laptop on a desk, with maybe an external controller. With this (versatile) equipment, Baker created slow-moving noise, where layers of contrasting frequencies seemingly sat beside each other so pleasantly. The set felt very gentle and never abrasive, even though it still felt very physical. Each sitting beer glass rattled alongside the extreme frequencies, becoming part of the performance as they shook. At times, there were subtle hints of melody, as if possible tangents sprouted from the core hum - yet, the sound never gave in. It continued along as the drawn out, beautiful noise. I'm glad I gave this piece my full attention.

Filmed a short (2 minute) video of Cycle's set. Might upload soon...

After the ethereal exercise of Cycle's set, Chrysalis took to the stage and seemingly continued on a similar ambient route, albeit with a touch more rhythm and industrial undercurrents. Chris Groves - another solo electronic/experimental artist - stood tall with his keyboard and various mixers/electronic gadgets, in what would be quite a visual performance. After initialising this wailing drone (droning wail?), Groves stepped down from the stage and handed out a piece of paper to each audience member. The double-sided A6 paper featured excerpts from two historical stories (one side lead to franklincase.org, the other johnnygosch.com), stories which are surrounded by 'controversial' topics such as human trafficking, child abuse and paedophilia. It is from these ideas that Groves formed this piece, titled Complicit - a track influenced from the fear, paranoia and shock that stems from the aforementioned storied subjects.

As the audience was lulled into a false sense of security by the ambient backing, the music felt non-invasive, looping as Groves stood fiddling at his desk. Then, unexpectedly, the keyboard received a thrashing tantamount to abuse, and the room was struck by a harsh stab of noise. This grabbed the attention of the inattentive in the room. The piece moved between shouted phrases and the abrasive keyboard slams, sometimes overlapping - it almost felt confronting, due in part to the visual nature of the shouting/slaming performance. This material stuck with me beyond the evening, thanks to the insight of the back story provided on the night. In a way, it evolved into after-the-fact art, spurred on by the 'further reading material' which helped the consumer piece the set together beyond the instance of the performance.

(Alternatively, maybe that is just a result of my inability to understand the music, as it occurred. Totally plausible, since I was so drawn into it and let my ears wander...)

As Chrysalis wound up, the third act began to scatter themselves all over the stage/floor of the Brisbane. This smattering of 'men with guitars' was the debut performance for the newly-established Hobart Improvisational Collective, a gang that comprised of Ben Crothers, Michael Valentine, Joshua Santospirito, Julian Teakle, Ben Mason, Matt Warren, Reggie Norris, Jesse Clark and Tim Panaretos. Whew - and that line-up was only for this one event!

In my absolute inexpert opinion, the musical experiment started out a little messy, perhaps even somewhat directionless. The introduction to the nearly half-hour Mickey and Trish sounded clumsy, with no sense of leadership. Guitars attempted to find their own space but ended up just drifting aimlessly, as if a separate entity entirely. Thankfully this didn't last long at all, and minutes later everything began to mesh - the piece gained traction and it all sounded far more coherent as a result. As it progressed, the bass and percussion played an increasingly centralised role (as you would expect...), and both excelled at keeping the piece firmly planted. As far as improvisation goes, this was successful, and enjoyable to boot.

For a final change of pace, Melbourne group New Estate played relaxed guitar pop songs, which was quite delightful. I'll cut to the chase and say that they were good - a band that fully lived up to my expectations. A few of the songs, particularly No Hedgehogs and Recovery were oh so melodic, and simply fun. The latter wound up with a swirling, almost cyclical guitar, which oozed hazy stoner rock. The final song Mary Jane took its spot as my favourite song (and as the best hazy-stoner rock song) quite easily. Such laid back pop/rock music is rather lacking in Hobart, especially combined with such fitting song writing. The EP became mine and I shuffled out the door...

&c.