Singapore noise

I went to an interesting event tonight – it was a noise performance in a Norwegian Seamen’s church on a hill in Singapore. Since there are not many Norwegian Seamen any more, the church is open to all Norwegians, and increasingly also cultural events as well. In this case, two Norwegian musicians flew to Singapore, they jammed with two Singaporean musicians for a week, and then they threw two performances. The first one was yesterday at the Lasalle school of the arts. The event will move next to Rotterdam, where a similar event will happen, and in June of 2011 all of the musicians will reconvene in Oslo to jam again.

Apparently the Lasalle show yesterday afternoon was quite noisy and rambunctious, I wish I could have seen it. Tonight, the gig was a bit more sedate. The show started off with all four musicians building up a vibe. There were two guitarists (including Leslie Low), playing guitars and e-bows and a ton of effects and mixers. Then there was also an iBook dude, as well as a guy who had effects pedals and various objects that he made noise and scratches with. The second set was with Leslie Low and Lasse (the two guys in the unit whose names start with the letter “L”), the guitarist and the noise tools guy, they built up a strange soundscape that included conventional stuff (Leslie playing conventional guitar patterns and singing/moaning) as well a noise fragments and severe feedback. The third set was from the iBook guy and the bearded long-haired Norwegian (?) guitarist. They did some bleeps and blurps, but seemed to be somewhat disconnected. I enjoyed the middle set the most, but the first set was also very exciting – it took me to a special place in my mind, and I couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear. Gorgeous.

Afterwards there were waffles, I had a few and then headed off home.

Here are some pics of the evening:

cialis manchester

Leslie Low on guitar/effects

Guitar and effects

Guitar and effects

iBook and implements

iBook and implements

Grinding away

Grinding away

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