Oren Ambarchi, Matthieu Werchowski, and Robin Fox and Dave Brown @ The Toff.
(Feb 3rd. Sunday Night. Toff in Town.)
Red, moody lighting and intimate seating, just as it was the sunday before.
Short wait.
Robin Fox & Dave Brown casually strole up onto the stage. Place their beers down. Pause.
A low wailing fuzzed up drone builds from Dave Brown's guitar. Robin Fox subltly processing it, adding nuantic little soft glitches and texture, with his tradmark Macbook Pro. While Dave adds effects (Boss RT-20 rotary Sim, Pro Co DueceTone Rat, Digitech Whammy Wah, Snarling Dogs Mould Spore, etc.) (dis)harmonies building up, layering drone upon drone, almost melodic in it's drawn out texturaly rich rum. All the while Robin Fox adding extra texture, glitch, and flair. Until finally a glorious wall is built; for moments this wall stands before being felled to a stampeding onslaught of imensly glitched up fuzzed out guitar. Pitches of extreme hight and depth and tones of confusion as the heavily effected guitar is scattered around the room. sometimes drifting off into low drone, or minimal moments, between the multitudes of patterned glitches.
At a time that seems too soon, while also just right, it ends.
Applause.
A way better than their already awesome set at Horse Bazaar.
After a (ear)short rest/break, a man comes out from behind the stage and starts moving tables and chairs, then heads back stage. He comes back moments later holding two violin cases; places these each on two chairs. Removes one violin and readies himself, Oren anounces that this is Matthieu Werchowski and he is going to be playing acoustically. And could you please keep the talking to a minumum.
Interesting I think.
Then he starts playing...
Some of the most beautiful noise I have heard, and by noise I mean like harsh electronic type textural noise, but comming acoustically from a violin.
The sounds that he could coax from that violin were amazing. Beyond explanation.
The first peice went for maybe 20minish.
Then the second peice. For this he got out the second violin and bow.
This was a more typical (classical) peice with tradtional playing techniques. Well it began that way. As the melodyies developed and expanded, he went from a single melody to multiple siultanious melodies, at one point he was playing 4 simultanious melodies (one on each string) while tapping a beat on the body of the violin. The sound that came out of that one violin was massive. Sounded like a full string ensemble.
This peice concluded at ruffly the 25minish mark.
The whole audience was silent. Then moments later launched it to raucous applause.
Finally there was Oren Ambarchi. Begining with his tradmark low soft drone. Adding addtional sympathetic and melodic drones slowly and subtly. Slowly building the intricate web of looping frequencies and intertwine to create some of the most pleasurable sounds my ears have ever heard. Nothing new or amazing from him, but it dosn't need to be. He's already struck gold.
The peice evolves and winds it's way in and out of it's subtle melodies, while low drones build and build in volume, more droning notes added all the time. After some time Oren started fading in the three guitars he had sitting on tables with eBows attop of their strings, they added a ressonant chiming buzz to the ever building wall.
As this all built to a stupendous tower or sound, oren started taking peices away fading out certain things, until we were left with mostly oren droning "Sunn O)))" style fuzzed up the wazoo with his vintage big muff. Working the whole amp-feedback thing. Playing the feedback.
Eventally working back to a minimal drone{s}, that would end the peice.
His gear that I remmber:
Normal modded guitar
Telecaster (on table with eBow)
Another two guitars on table with eBows
Normal largish mixer
Lovtone ringstinger
That rack unit ^ sits on
Triangle Big Muff
Volume Pedal
Boss PS-2
Boomerang
2x12 combo amp
Bass amp with 4x10 cab
Red, moody lighting and intimate seating, just as it was the sunday before.
Short wait.
Robin Fox & Dave Brown casually strole up onto the stage. Place their beers down. Pause.
A low wailing fuzzed up drone builds from Dave Brown's guitar. Robin Fox subltly processing it, adding nuantic little soft glitches and texture, with his tradmark Macbook Pro. While Dave adds effects (Boss RT-20 rotary Sim, Pro Co DueceTone Rat, Digitech Whammy Wah, Snarling Dogs Mould Spore, etc.) (dis)harmonies building up, layering drone upon drone, almost melodic in it's drawn out texturaly rich rum. All the while Robin Fox adding extra texture, glitch, and flair. Until finally a glorious wall is built; for moments this wall stands before being felled to a stampeding onslaught of imensly glitched up fuzzed out guitar. Pitches of extreme hight and depth and tones of confusion as the heavily effected guitar is scattered around the room. sometimes drifting off into low drone, or minimal moments, between the multitudes of patterned glitches.
At a time that seems too soon, while also just right, it ends.
Applause.
A way better than their already awesome set at Horse Bazaar.
After a (ear)short rest/break, a man comes out from behind the stage and starts moving tables and chairs, then heads back stage. He comes back moments later holding two violin cases; places these each on two chairs. Removes one violin and readies himself, Oren anounces that this is Matthieu Werchowski and he is going to be playing acoustically. And could you please keep the talking to a minumum.
Interesting I think.
Then he starts playing...
Some of the most beautiful noise I have heard, and by noise I mean like harsh electronic type textural noise, but comming acoustically from a violin.
The sounds that he could coax from that violin were amazing. Beyond explanation.
The first peice went for maybe 20minish.
Then the second peice. For this he got out the second violin and bow.
This was a more typical (classical) peice with tradtional playing techniques. Well it began that way. As the melodyies developed and expanded, he went from a single melody to multiple siultanious melodies, at one point he was playing 4 simultanious melodies (one on each string) while tapping a beat on the body of the violin. The sound that came out of that one violin was massive. Sounded like a full string ensemble.
This peice concluded at ruffly the 25minish mark.
The whole audience was silent. Then moments later launched it to raucous applause.
Finally there was Oren Ambarchi. Begining with his tradmark low soft drone. Adding addtional sympathetic and melodic drones slowly and subtly. Slowly building the intricate web of looping frequencies and intertwine to create some of the most pleasurable sounds my ears have ever heard. Nothing new or amazing from him, but it dosn't need to be. He's already struck gold.
The peice evolves and winds it's way in and out of it's subtle melodies, while low drones build and build in volume, more droning notes added all the time. After some time Oren started fading in the three guitars he had sitting on tables with eBows attop of their strings, they added a ressonant chiming buzz to the ever building wall.
As this all built to a stupendous tower or sound, oren started taking peices away fading out certain things, until we were left with mostly oren droning "Sunn O)))" style fuzzed up the wazoo with his vintage big muff. Working the whole amp-feedback thing. Playing the feedback.
Eventally working back to a minimal drone{s}, that would end the peice.
His gear that I remmber:
Normal modded guitar
Telecaster (on table with eBow)
Another two guitars on table with eBows
Normal largish mixer
Lovtone ringstinger
That rack unit ^ sits on
Triangle Big Muff
Volume Pedal
Boss PS-2
Boomerang
2x12 combo amp
Bass amp with 4x10 cab