Free Noise / James Chance and Les Contortions

whorefrost · 04.30.2007, 05:22 AM

was in Glasgow last night attending the Triptych 'free noise' night which featured Yellow Swans, Evan Parkers, C Spencer Yeh, John Wiese, Culver, John Hession, Metalux....
thing is, I figured that it would be like a festival style thing with each artist playing a set... the £15 entry fee helped further this expectation...
so when I went in and found the stage crammed full of everyone in some sort of spontaneous ensemble jam, I figured it was just a whimsical start to the night. Then it began dragging on for a while and I became nervous.
It ended and I discovered there was a twenty minute intermission before more of the same.
Me and my pal went to wet our throats and noticed a poster near the bar advertising a James Chance and Les Contortions gig at Optimio club later that very same night. We opted to attend that in a bid to try and save the night.
Free Noise part 2 was slightly better although the overall set-up still left a bad taste in my mouth. A lot of the time, the music was meandering, sloppy as hell.. Everyone was self-consciously delving in and out of the jam.. the dude from Yellow Swans looked morose as hell.. he just sat there most of the time looking bored... meanwhile, the YS guitarist was swaying about, nodding his head, occasionally contributing some hesitant, gentle skronk...
Parker hung back a lot of the time as well, but he seemed to come in at the right moments and the other musicians seemed to ease off a bit, perhaps out of deference or some damn thing...

We had reservations about Optimo - my friend made a comment about an 'arthritic' James Chance and it made me laugh nervously.. I wasn't all that sure this was gonna be good but I had been looking forward to the free noise night and somehow needed to rectify my evening of entertainment.
We queued outside Optimo for a bit, went inside, paid our £14 (!) and hit the bar again. Optimo is a really hip club. At the start of the night they play no-wave and post punk. AS the night wears on they tend to veer towards more dancable stuff but good stuff like Can and shit. It's also full of intimidating, sexy hipsters. It's fun to lurk in the shadows and watch them dance to the Pop Group for example, whilst sucking on a cold brew.

A little after midnight, Chance hit the stage. He looked like a re-animated corpse! He was prancing about in a baggy suit with bow tie, his grey hair in a quiff. Then he started to blow and I'll be damned if he still couldn't belt it out! His vocals were spot on as well. I have a live CD of the Contortions from the late 70s and I have to say, I couldn't hear much difference between that and what went down last night.
They played Contort Yourself and the crowd went apeshit. They also played Jaded from the No New York LP which prompted me to shout out a request for Flip Your Face later on. A lass in the crowd turned to me and said 'good choice but I doubt he'll play it.'
She was correct.

Iain · 04.30.2007, 05:26 AM

Fuck bags. Freenoise sounds like it was a bit pap.

I wasn't under the impression that they'd each play a set, I knew they were playing togther, but I didn't think they'd all be on stage all the time. Was there any merch and did you get anything though? I'll be happy if I can pick up a copy of Topography of the Lungs and some Burning Star Core vinyl for a reasonable price and get to see Evan Parker blurt some.

whorefrost · 04.30.2007, 05:30 AM

There was merch. Had a brief glance but none of the artists interest me THAT much really. Aside from Parker maybe. Didn't see Topography of the Lungs but there were some Parker discs.

The whole set up just struck me as complacent hippy bullshit. Like, yeah just get them to jam all at the same time, it's noise, it's cool, we'll milk these noise hipsters for 15 clams to see this shit. Seeing kids dancing to Mars at Optimo afterwards was a breath of fresh air.

Iain · 04.30.2007, 05:35 AM

Ick, I don't have the option to go and see James Chance if it turns out to be bunk. I'd hope they would split into smaller ensembles, maybe Parker/Hession/Edwards do a bit of free jazz and then play in a bigger ensemble.

jon boy · 04.30.2007, 05:41 AM

saw him at atp one year and was quite impressed.

whorefrost · 04.30.2007, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iain

Ick, I don't have the option to go and see James Chance if it turns out to be bunk. I'd hope they would split into smaller ensembles, maybe Parker/Hession/Edwards do a bit of free jazz and then play in a bigger ensemble.

That's what I was thinking they should've done in hindsight. Instead of two full ensemble performances, they should have had a free jazz one and a noise one.

Toilet & Bowels · 04.30.2007, 07:09 AM

that sounds totally rubbish to have them all on stage at once.

iain, when is the show in cardiff?

Iain · 04.30.2007, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whorefrost

That's what I was thinking they should've done in hindsight. Instead of two full ensemble performances, they should have had a free jazz one and a noise one.

Well, I hoped for some crossover at least but not all one big ensemble...

Iain · 04.30.2007, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

that sounds totally rubbish to have them all on stage at once.

iain, when is the show in cardiff?

It's tonight. I'm still looking forward to it but slightly less so now.

whorefrost · 04.30.2007, 08:11 AM

sorry if i rained on yr parade... at least you'll know what to expect...
i heard a fair few people speaking highly of it afterwards... so who knows, you might dig it.. but it was some emperor's new clothes shit as far as I was concerned,

Iain · 04.30.2007, 10:18 AM

No, not at all. Probably better to go in with lower expectations. I am a bit concerned because I thought you were generally into that 'kind of thing'.

wax · 04.30.2007, 10:54 AM

yesyes.
contortions tomorrow in camden. should be great.
i heard that its le contortions, not the contortions, which is apparantly a french band that toured with him when he played a few gigs in france not so long ago. can anyone confirm this? i was hoping itd be the almost original band like he had at atp.
still, i cant imagine it will be anything short of fucking great.

whorefrost · 04.30.2007, 11:06 AM

wax - les contortions... they looked like sleazy session musicians.. they were good tho... tight..

iain - i am into that 'kind of thing' to some extent... i am not given over to the blind mindless indulgence that unfortunately seems to accompany that kind of thing at times... i think its important to maintain some critical discretion.. i read an interview with Mike Connelly once where he spoke about the best noise/improv being generated by friends who hang out and jam together ala Smegma, Wolf Eyes, Hair Police, NNCK et al. he also said he's seen a lot of shows go awry in the name of free improvisation which sums up my thoughts on last night.

Jt · 04.30.2007, 01:06 PM

whorefrost, is that club named Optimo or Optimio? You spell it both ways. I only ask 'cause Optimo is a track by Liquid Liquid, right? The no wave/disco act that were on 99 back in the day. If the name's come from where I think it has then I imagine that's one raaather decent club!!! Glasgow y'say?

Toilet & Bowels · 04.30.2007, 02:41 PM

there's a pair of scottish djs who operate under the name of optimo, i saw one of them play once and he closed his set with minor threat.
look at this:

http://www.optimo.co.uk/what.htm

Toilet & Bowels · 05.01.2007, 05:29 AM

iain, how was it?

sonicl · 05.01.2007, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

there's a pair of scottish djs who operate under the name of optimo, i saw one of them play once and he closed his set with minor threat.
look at this:

http://www.optimo.co.uk

That's a pretty decent website. A No Wave mix MP3, "Cold War" mix MP3, a biography of 99 Records... I'll have a better look at that this evening.

Anyway, back to the topic in hand - yes, how was it Iain?

pokkeherrie · 05.01.2007, 05:37 AM

James Chance played my town last week, but I didn't go because I thought he might be crap... Good to hear that he wasn't then. It's indeed a French backing band he's touring with now.

Pity about the Freenoise thing.

Iain · 05.01.2007, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toilet & Bowels

iain, how was it?

I thought it was pretty good to be fair. I was worried that all of them being on stage at the same time might raise 'too many cooks' type problems but it didn't. They obviously went in with a framework and left each other room to do stuff. Spencer Yeh did some really ace guttural vocals and the Metalux girls did some nice vocal stuff at the start of the second set. The vocal bits were my favourite and I could have done with more of them to be honest.

They were more meditative and oceanic than the ferocious attack of Dream Aktion Unit for example.

Also, I would have liked to see it in a smaller venue so people were more packed in. The venue I was it at is an old church and they had tables out and stuff like that. Probably only about 80-100 people there I reckon so it would have made sense in a smaller venue.

Toilet & Bowels · 05.01.2007, 10:50 AM

yeah, it's been put on by some sort of arts council funded group though isn't it? so i think that's why it's got bigger venues than one might expect for this type of thing. in london they are playing ULU which is probably big enough to hold 800 to 1000 people i think

04.30.2007, 05:22 AM	#1
whorefrost invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arrived in Smoke, Arrived in Gold Posts: 2,569	was in Glasgow last night attending the Triptych 'free noise' night which featured Yellow Swans, Evan Parkers, C Spencer Yeh, John Wiese, Culver, John Hession, Metalux.... thing is, I figured that it would be like a festival style thing with each artist playing a set... the £15 entry fee helped further this expectation... so when I went in and found the stage crammed full of everyone in some sort of spontaneous ensemble jam, I figured it was just a whimsical start to the night. Then it began dragging on for a while and I became nervous. It ended and I discovered there was a twenty minute intermission before more of the same. Me and my pal went to wet our throats and noticed a poster near the bar advertising a James Chance and Les Contortions gig at Optimio club later that very same night. We opted to attend that in a bid to try and save the night. Free Noise part 2 was slightly better although the overall set-up still left a bad taste in my mouth. A lot of the time, the music was meandering, sloppy as hell.. Everyone was self-consciously delving in and out of the jam.. the dude from Yellow Swans looked morose as hell.. he just sat there most of the time looking bored... meanwhile, the YS guitarist was swaying about, nodding his head, occasionally contributing some hesitant, gentle skronk... Parker hung back a lot of the time as well, but he seemed to come in at the right moments and the other musicians seemed to ease off a bit, perhaps out of deference or some damn thing... We had reservations about Optimo - my friend made a comment about an 'arthritic' James Chance and it made me laugh nervously.. I wasn't all that sure this was gonna be good but I had been looking forward to the free noise night and somehow needed to rectify my evening of entertainment. We queued outside Optimo for a bit, went inside, paid our £14 (!) and hit the bar again. Optimo is a really hip club. At the start of the night they play no-wave and post punk. AS the night wears on they tend to veer towards more dancable stuff but good stuff like Can and shit. It's also full of intimidating, sexy hipsters. It's fun to lurk in the shadows and watch them dance to the Pop Group for example, whilst sucking on a cold brew. A little after midnight, Chance hit the stage. He looked like a re-animated corpse! He was prancing about in a baggy suit with bow tie, his grey hair in a quiff. Then he started to blow and I'll be damned if he still couldn't belt it out! His vocals were spot on as well. I have a live CD of the Contortions from the late 70s and I have to say, I couldn't hear much difference between that and what went down last night. They played Contort Yourself and the crowd went apeshit. They also played Jaded from the No New York LP which prompted me to shout out a request for Flip Your Face later on. A lass in the crowd turned to me and said 'good choice but I doubt he'll play it.' She was correct. __________________ hehehe
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 05:26 AM	#2
Iain invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,544	Fuck bags. Freenoise sounds like it was a bit pap. I wasn't under the impression that they'd each play a set, I knew they were playing togther, but I didn't think they'd all be on stage all the time. Was there any merch and did you get anything though? I'll be happy if I can pick up a copy of Topography of the Lungs and some Burning Star Core vinyl for a reasonable price and get to see Evan Parker blurt some.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 05:30 AM	#3
whorefrost invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arrived in Smoke, Arrived in Gold Posts: 2,569	There was merch. Had a brief glance but none of the artists interest me THAT much really. Aside from Parker maybe. Didn't see Topography of the Lungs but there were some Parker discs. The whole set up just struck me as complacent hippy bullshit. Like, yeah just get them to jam all at the same time, it's noise, it's cool, we'll milk these noise hipsters for 15 clams to see this shit. Seeing kids dancing to Mars at Optimo afterwards was a breath of fresh air. __________________ hehehe
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 05:35 AM	#4
Iain invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,544	Ick, I don't have the option to go and see James Chance if it turns out to be bunk. I'd hope they would split into smaller ensembles, maybe Parker/Hession/Edwards do a bit of free jazz and then play in a bigger ensemble.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 05:41 AM	#5
jon boy invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: psycho battery Posts: 12,161	saw him at atp one year and was quite impressed. __________________ Sarcasm[A] is stating the opposite of an intended meaning especially in order to sneeringly, slyly, jest or mock a person, situation or thing \|@ <------- Euphoric brain cell just moments before expiration V _ \ / _ PING <-------- moments later / \ http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljhxq...isruo1_500.gif
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 07:09 AM	#7
Toilet & Bowels invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Europe Posts: 12,273	that sounds totally rubbish to have them all on stage at once. iain, when is the show in cardiff?
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 08:11 AM	#10
whorefrost invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arrived in Smoke, Arrived in Gold Posts: 2,569	sorry if i rained on yr parade... at least you'll know what to expect... i heard a fair few people speaking highly of it afterwards... so who knows, you might dig it.. but it was some emperor's new clothes shit as far as I was concerned, __________________ hehehe
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 10:18 AM	#11
Iain invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 2,544	No, not at all. Probably better to go in with lower expectations. I am a bit concerned because I thought you were generally into that 'kind of thing'.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 10:54 AM	#12
wax the destroyed room Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: brum - england Posts: 554	yesyes. contortions tomorrow in camden. should be great. i heard that its le contortions, not the contortions, which is apparantly a french band that toured with him when he played a few gigs in france not so long ago. can anyone confirm this? i was hoping itd be the almost original band like he had at atp. still, i cant imagine it will be anything short of fucking great.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 11:06 AM	#13
whorefrost invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Arrived in Smoke, Arrived in Gold Posts: 2,569	wax - les contortions... they looked like sleazy session musicians.. they were good tho... tight.. iain - i am into that 'kind of thing' to some extent... i am not given over to the blind mindless indulgence that unfortunately seems to accompany that kind of thing at times... i think its important to maintain some critical discretion.. i read an interview with Mike Connelly once where he spoke about the best noise/improv being generated by friends who hang out and jam together ala Smegma, Wolf Eyes, Hair Police, NNCK et al. he also said he's seen a lot of shows go awry in the name of free improvisation which sums up my thoughts on last night. __________________ hehehe
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 01:06 PM	#14
Jt children of satan Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 345	whorefrost, is that club named Optimo or Optimio? You spell it both ways. I only ask 'cause Optimo is a track by Liquid Liquid, right? The no wave/disco act that were on 99 back in the day. If the name's come from where I think it has then I imagine that's one raaather decent club!!! Glasgow y'say? __________________ Album of the Week: Pylon Gyrate 1980
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

04.30.2007, 02:41 PM	#15
Toilet & Bowels invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Europe Posts: 12,273	there's a pair of scottish djs who operate under the name of optimo, i saw one of them play once and he closed his set with minor threat. look at this: http://www.optimo.co.uk/what.htm
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.01.2007, 05:29 AM	#16
Toilet & Bowels invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Europe Posts: 12,273	iain, how was it?
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.01.2007, 05:37 AM	#18
pokkeherrie invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,289	James Chance played my town last week, but I didn't go because I thought he might be crap... Good to hear that he wasn't then. It's indeed a French backing band he's touring with now. Pity about the Freenoise thing.
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|

05.01.2007, 10:50 AM	#20
Toilet & Bowels invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Europe Posts: 12,273	yeah, it's been put on by some sort of arts council funded group though isn't it? so i think that's why it's got bigger venues than one might expect for this type of thing. in london they are playing ULU which is probably big enough to hold 800 to 1000 people i think
	\|QUOTE AND REPLY\|