If this bloke comes to a town near you anytime soon, make sure you know what you're in for before you attend.
Went with a few mates (and a few list members) to see him 'perform' at the Tate Modern gallery in London on Saturday. What a pile of self-indulgent toss (mho). (US members check your thesauri for English slang). It didn't bode well when it emerged that it was sitting room only in the Tate's little theatre ... compare this to to 'Metropolis'/Mills at the Royal Festival Hall ... a compere cautioned us that visiting the toilets during the "micro-interval" would be met with severe disapproval. The line up was Rosy Parlane (NZ) Tennis (UK) and Mr Delay. Parlane came on and played about one note for nearly 30 minutes. Someone whooped when he finished, many faces turned to where it came from carrying looks which said "WHY?!?!?!?" (to be fair the whooper might have just been relieved it was over). Tennis probably were the standout, playing sub-Pole/Chain Reaction-esque (but much slower) dub soundscapes and really experimenting with echo. But -(and this applies to all the acts) watching 2 ugly blokes staring intently at the screen of a laptop does not an engaging spectacle make. I have dug some Vladislav Delay tracks a lot in the past and I always respect experimentation. But tell me someone, what is the value of random squelches and other inharmonious noises strung together with vocal snippets which sound like the voices you might hear if you had the misfortune to listen inside the head of a schizophrenic? There were no beats. This in itself need not be a reason for music to be boring or even undanceable - but this was *not* The Detroit Escalator Company - nor even the Vladislav Delay which you'll hear on most of his LPs and a few Chain Reaction titles. This was sheer random noise obfuscation and maybe for that reason it was a brave thing to do. I mean maybe he was baring his soul. But to me he didn't really use 0.00005% of the talents which he has in doing that. Strangely, the London (Guardian) Guide billed it in the clubs section! I noted many looking at their watches. Luckily it the whole thing was only about 2 and bit hours long. Tate, spend your Education grant more wisely please. That was crap on acid. k
