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reviewed by Andrew Sinclair.

The last few years has seen the birth of a new generation of Australian indie bands that for the first time are creating trends and sounds instead of imitating them from our friends in the US and UK. These bands include Damn Arms, Love Of Diagrams, The Lost Valentinos, Young & Restless and My Disco. ‘Paradise’ is the second LP from Melbourne trio My Disco and substantially expands (or detracts?) on the ideas stated on their first LP ‘Cancer’.

The most noticeable feature of ‘Paradise’ is its static, repetitious nature in the bass (Ben Andrews) and drum parts (Rohan Rebeiro). Where ‘Cancer’ repeated short phrases over & over and changed these once or twice during the course of a song, Paradise maintains these sparse, mostly one or two note phrases for entire songs and the drum parts often mirror exactly the shape of the bass lines. The ideas are always repeated to their perfect length whether it be 1 ½ minutes (‘|’) or 9 minutes (‘An Even Sun’) and the album follows these repetitious song structures for all 10 songs. This creates a hypnotic effect for the listener. You feel like you know the phrase like the back of your hand yet the repetition causes your mind to hear new things within the music, the repetition itself is essential to the overall perception of the phrases.
Liam Andrew’s guitar floats beautifully above the music like a crashing plane. He creates giant walls of sound, distorted crackles and screeches through his guitar, which only builds upon the sense of tension in the bass and drums.

What is created is a daunting sense of isolation that depicts a sparse and desolate landscape. It is in this sense that I view ‘Paradise’ as a truly Australian work. The cover of the album has the three members of My Disco dressed in what looks like black tights and raincoats on the peak of a hill in the middle of the dry, red and harsh South Australian desert contrasted against a stark blue sky. This image reflects the music perfectly. The desert is infinitely wide, all bright but equally lifeless, sparse and haunting. Ben Andrews’ lyrics seem to mirror this sense of the sparse, lifeless Australia as well. He barely sings throughout the album and only utters a single sentence per song (sometimes he sings nothing at all) but the music does not demand anything extra. “One nation, an even sun” he sings on ‘An Even Sun’ while on ‘/’ he sings ‘the less I see, the closer I feel’. The former lyric creates a suggested subject of Australia while the latter mirrors the sense of tension and isolation within the music.

The themes suggested within the music are constant and the album works very well as a whole. My only criticism is that the band could’ve branched out and explored different instruments and sounds to support the music but it is a minor criticism as they are a rock band and the instrumentation works perfectly in the context of this album. ‘Paradise’ is one of the best albums of 2008 and may possibly be one of the greatest Australian rock albums ever.

9/10.

 http://www.myspace.com/mdband

A tribute to the horns

28th May 2008

Alice Humphries and Daniel Thorne

After witnessing this concert, one cannot deny the wealth of talent that courses through these two outstanding musicians. Alice Humphries graduated from WAAPA with a Bachelor of Jazz Composition in 2007, winning the Bob Wyllie scholarship with an exceptional final recital. Her partner in crime, Daniel Thorne, graduated the same year with Honours, his core focus of study being centred on the work of Arvo Part. 

Under the musical direction of aspiring conductor Alice Humphries herself, the 10-piece orchestra, was faced with some extremely difficult music. They pulled it off to great effect, bringing to life the beautiful still harmonies of C. – an initiative of Mr Thorne, who lead the orchestra on tenor sax. The delicate, sustained melodies were masterfully woven, with seamless interaction between the soprano saxophone and cornet. 

Any audience member could not help react to the raw emotion projected through Alice’s Miero Uotti Uutta Kuuta (A Houseless Beggar). One could almost taste the distress as the traditional melody, interpreted with such intensity, was thrown from instrument to instrument in an intrepid musical meditation.

The combination of works in this evening display of new Australian talent exhibited an unbridled passion fused with bold statement, and made for a highly entertaining concert.

- R.E.Smith

Jason Robb.

The Thrills are a five piece pop band from the little town of Dublin, Ireland. Touring off the back of their third album, these lads certainly know how to pen a sweet pop tune. A nice night out in Perth, the support came from a Sydney band called Sparcadia, who are currently enjoying a nice bout of popularity, although this reviewer fails to see why.Their whole set seemed to just blend together, besides their two catchy singles that both sound exactly the same. Moving on.
The crowd anticipation was high as The Thrills took the stage for the first time in Perth, having only played in Western Australia one other time, at the infamous Southbound Festival. Warming up with a track off their new album, they then launched straight into their most well known and biggest hit, ‘Big Sur’. Pure pop perfection followed with every tune, with the band confidently playing through a well balanced set of all their songs. The Thrills performed as a tight unit throughout the night, and kept the crowd singing along to every word. There was a nice variety in their sounds, with the bassist and guitarist switching instruments almost every song, vocalist Connor bearing a harmonica and occasional acoustic guitar, and the different patches omitted from the keyboard player. Having toured with them a few years back, members of the Sleepy Jackson joined the Thrills on stage for a giant sing along which couldn’t have lifted the vibe any higher. Returning for a three track encore, the night was finished in true style with their second album hit, ‘Whatever happened to Corey Haim?’, leaving a many of happy punters to walk out into the night with sweet melodies ringing through their head.

November, 2007.

Reviewed by Mark Bradstreet

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWNQANdDm8w

As a composer it is clear that Brendan Collins deserves recognition for his well composed and energetic piece “Eclectus”, but also clearly displays his excellence as a sound performer too. The quality of this piece was not solely in is compositional elements, but was heavily enhanced by a well rehearsed and engaging performance. Brendan Collins (trombonist) and Denise Papaluca (pianist) appear to both play with such confidence and conviction, which is what helps to create the driving force that empowers this performance.

Although this particular piece in this case was performed for the purpose of an audio and visual recording as opposed to a live audience, in no way does it take away from your ability to enjoy the performance. I found that the slightly more casual atmosphere of this performance allows you to appreciate the piece for its subtleties, and to perceive the performance without the sometimes unnecessary pressure and demand of a live formal performance. Pianist Denise Papaluca clearly makes for a great accompanist in this performance, and interacts well musically with Brendan Collins. Both musicians complement one another’s playing through their smooth, fluent and musically expressive tone.

Composer and Trombonist Brendan Collins really controls the piece well with a cool, calm and collected appearance. As the composer, Brendan Collins has written this piece in a way that allows the trombonist (himself in this case) to conduct the emotions and assertions of the piece through two distinct themes. These themes appear near the beginning of the performance, and are repeated again towards the later part, and hold the importance of much of the performances structure and formality. Brendan Collins acknowledges this through equally well articulated and phrased themes during the performance. Whether you may be an aspiring performer, composer, or just someone who enjoys a great piece, this performance is well worth viewing wherever your interests lie.

Music is a crucial tool that we use to manipulate the circumstances, which we face at significant and important times of our lives. Certain styles, certain rhythms, specific times, specific places, and ultimately our own musical meaning is what I believe to be the intertwining of “defining moments” that create our memories.

On the 1st June, I had the privilege of going to “Ministry Of Sound” at Metro City, Northbridge. For me, the main attraction I wanted to see were “The Potbelleez”, which include Dave Goode and Johnny Sonic (M.C, and DJ with 2 – 3 turntables), Blue M.C and Ilan Kidron, who front the stage with their personalities and vocal performance, as well as being part of “The Potbelleez” writing and performance team.

When Dave Goode and Johnny Sonic first walked on stage, the crowd went wild with adrenalin, and welcomed them into what they like to consider their ‘personal’ space. I stood on the balcony of the 3rd floor, and watched as the crowd got more and confused (including myself). It took them a while to warm up into it, and grab hold of the people in the room, because they would build up the music to the point where the crowd was waiting for that hardcore, adrenalin driven beat, and then drop it back and start building it up again. I watched as slowly they started to lose everyone, but once they brought in that beat, and got themselves on track, they recaptured the people’s confidence to the point where their rocky start was soon forgotten.

The music was thumping and the crowd was pumping, especially during “Don’t Hold Back”. There was not one hint of tension in the air, just pure enjoyment and love of the music. I looked around and not one person was sitting down, not dancing, not smiling, or not having a good time. Everyone was jumping, screaming, applauding, whistling, and genuinely praising and psyching up the DJ’s. For me, the music and the way they were mixing the beats, captured me in such a way that I couldn’t stop dancing and getting into the beat. They owned that stage, and connected with the audience and made it a very gratifying environment to be in.

Going to this event reinforced my understanding of the power that any style of music has, to evoke one’s emotions. Composers are only limited by their imagination. The listener is only limited by their degree of expectation. To be able to connect with an audience and keep that connection soaring the way “The Potbelleez” did, is a rewarding experience every time. This was definitely a night to remember, thanks to the vibe that “The Potbelleez” created.

   Ministry Of Sound Website: http://www.ministryofsound.com

The Potbelleez MySpace Website: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus…

Reviewed by Jacinta Rosielle

Snowman’s new album is a walk through a dark jungle, complete with nasty surprises and comforting spirits. “The Horse, The Rat, and The Swan” is beautifully harsh, sweet, noisy and gentle, all at once. With tribal drums, chants, swampy guitar and a whole lot of noise provided by feedback and electronic effects, it is one awesome album of contrasts.

“Our Mother (She Remembers)” opens the album with pounding drums, driving guitar, and the intense vocals of Joe McKee, leading into the sweet, ethereal supporting vocals of Andy Citawarman accompanied by squealing feedback. The single, “We Are The Plague”, is next, a kind of messed up duet that alternates between Citawarman’s soft distorted vocals and McKee’s growls. Mechanical chanting leads the listener into “The Gods Of The Upper House” and back out again with the repetition of “we are machines”, only to segue into the fluid piano and angelically sweeping vocals of “The Blood Of The Swan”. Not to leave the rockabilly element behind, McKee then howls his way into “Daniel Was A Timebomb”, an energetic song (though sadly rather short) that’s sure to send more than a few punters slamming around at their gigs. … Inhale, exhale. Inhale, hold, release. … Once again, the album takes a breath, slowing right down to the gently meandering noise of “A Rebirth”. The song begins with snippets of filmic recordings and a low drone note that morphs into gorgeous harmonic feedback that seems to create a melody all by itself before crashing drums in the distance draw closer and accelerate into a wall of noise. Next, Citawarman pleads to “let her go” in “She Is Turning Into You”, a serenely beautiful track that hides an urgency until DiBlasio returns with his characteristically pounding drums. “The Horse, Pts. 1 & 2” consists of pained shouts muffled by an undulating noisescape and followed by another riotous crowd-stomper complete with driving drums, crashing cymbals and air-punching chant. In “Diamond Wounds”, McKee demonstrates his vocal dexterity, one minute evoking Iggy Pop’s velvety moments, vibrato included, and warbling like Johnny Rotten the next. Finally, “Do The Sleepwalk” ceremoniously marches the listener out of the jungle with a slow, thumping drum, McKee’s solemn repetition of “we’re sleepwalking”, and Citawarman’s priestly near-monotone that eventually breaks into celestial melody, paving the way for the final outburst of rapid guitar, sweeping feedback and those deliciously ominous drums.

The one criticism I have of this album is the difficulty in deciphering the lyrics. The dark imagery and riveting narratives are unfortunately only caught in glimpses before being repeatedly obscured by the rest of the music.

While “The Horse, The Rat, and The Swan” is much less of an alt-rock punter’s party album than their self-titled debut of 2006, it is indisputable evidence that Snowman are artists with vision and with any luck will keep surprising us for years to come.

Six of the ten album tracks are currently available for streaming at Snowman’s MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/thesnowmanempire

By Casey Chan

Can you picture yourself at age 60 doing what you’re doing now?” asks Dick Cavett of Mick Jagger in a 1972 TV interview. “Easily. Yeah,” replies the soft-spoken rock star. Back then, of course, nobody knew what a 60-year-old rock-and-roller looked like—the question itself implied that the notion was comical. Cut to the stage of the Beacon Theatre in New York in the fall of 2006, where Martin Scorsese and a team of 17 cinematographers captured the Rolling Stones for Scorsese’s concert film “Shine a Light.” The creases in Jagger’s face testify to his 62 years, but the lean, prancing and spinning body tearing up the stage is, if anything, even more exuberant than the boy setting ablaze the Boston Garden in 1965. If there’s comedy in it, it’s the sweet smile of survival that lights up Keith Richards’s grandly depraved face. Or the ageless dexterity of Ronnie Wood’s finger work - and his undying devotion to his Rod Stewart shag cut. Or the look of winded amazement on Charlie Watts’s poker face after the group has polished off an incredible smoking version of “She’s So Hot.”

That 1982 song from “Undercover,” the third in their set after “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Shattered,” may be the least-known song on the playlist, but it’s the moment when “Shine a Light” takes off - check out the erotic body language between Mick and backup singer Lisa Fisher - and Scorsese delivers a Stones concert film of shimmering intimacy. “Shine a Light” has a few tasty backstage glimpses of Scorsese and the Stones preparing for the gig (the co-host that night is none other than Bill Clinton). There are snippets from early press conferences with Jagger and Richards and Watts and the inevitably square men who ask them the inevitably clueless questions about Youthful Rebellion.

But Scorsese isn’t interested in making a definitive documentary, or even conducting the kind of backstage interviews he gave us in the wonderful “The Last Waltz,” about The Band’s farewell concert. This movie is about giving us a privileged glimpse of the Stones in action. It’s a record of an astonishing musical chemistry that has been evolving, with no signs of calcification, for nearly five decades. As a bonus, there are guest appearances by Buddy Guy and Jack White, obviously delighted to be partnering Jagger on “Loving Cup.” The third guest appearance, by Christina Aguilera belting out “Live With Me” with Jagger, is stronger on showbiz flash than real soul.The quality of the band’s playing is matched by the technical accomplishments of Scorsese’s array of expert cameramen (including Gimme Shelter’s Albert Maysles), and editor, who capture the subtle nuances of each member’s performance. Scorsese and his editor, David Tedeschi, spin this prize footage into a two-hour celebration of rock-and-roll longevity. Will the band still be doing it at 70? When you’re having this good a time making music, why stop?

Plot:

Shine a Light is a music documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, capturing the Rolling Stones during their A Bigger Bang world tour. Filmed over two nights at New York’s historic Beacon Theater in the autumn of 2006, the band’s powers show no signs of waning.

Related Links:

Official Site - http://www.shinealightmovie.com/

As always, the precision of the playing was faultless. There was never a moment, nor have I ever noticed one in the past, where any member of the band was even in the slightest amount out of time.

About midway through the first set they performed “Butterfly”, from Herbie Hancock’s 1974 fusion classic, “Thrust”. This is a very dreamy tune, with long, soaring melodic lines on the sax over a heavily sustained bed of electric piano. At least, that’s how it starts. The tune pics up the pace about three minutes in when it changes to a medium funk groove. Graham really excelled in this tune. In the first section his choice of timbre for the keyboard perfectly captured the mood of the piece as did his very slight but highly effective reharmonization of some of the chords. Soon after the funk groove enters Graham then launched into a solo - his best for the night. He seemed to have an endless supply of crossover rhythms that just poured out of him, floating over the 4/4 groove with various combinations of 3, 5, and 7-note licks but never for a moment in a way that seemed arbitrary or forced.

In “Oops” a tune from the band “Steps ahead” we here are far lighter side of Sly. This tune is much more major sounding in the harmony then “Butterfly” and even when the band started building the intensity up in the solo’s it was done in a much sparser fashion. Carl did a very poignant solo in this tune and the slight cuban reharmonization by Graham midway through, provided him with an interesting harmonic framework with which he could further develop his ideas.

The last tune that stood out particularly for me during the night, was another one by Herbie Hancock, coincidentally called, “Sly” ( you can see Sly perform this tune at the llama bar on the following link on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mt3Xzpmy… ) . This tune, like “Butterfly”, is also a mix of dreamy melodic segments and funky all out solo sections. Simon had some very nice comping in this tune really nailing that percussive guitar sound that is so synonymous with the genre. It was Dane’s bass solo however that really got everyone’s attention. The level of virtuosity that this man commands on his instrument has to be seen to be believed. The precision of his fingers, the speed of his lines and the maturity of his note selection are all of the order you would expect from a world famous player, and this solo was no different. Beginning very sparse, he gradually built his solo more and more until he unleashed on the audience a barrage of speeding chromatic lines that left us feeling both exuberated and quite overwhelmed. This definitely stood out as the highlight of the night.

So if its modern jazz you’re after on a Thursday night, look no further then “Sly” at the Llama bar. Top-notch playing, a huge variety of material, and all this for no entry fee - you’d be crazy not to go!

The oboe. An often-misunderstood instrument that in the hands of a beginner will send people running from the room, and a brace of ducks to join in chorus. However, in the hands of an experienced player this instrument has a beautiful melodic timbre, capable of portraying both darkness and light.

I had the privilege of being a stagehand for the recital of such a player, Zoe Kluga, a recent graduate of the WAAPA’s Bachelor of Music degree. She has an amazing mastery of the instrument, able to express all the subtle nuances that the oboe is capable of. She selected three contrasting pieces for her recital on the 27th of May 2008 in WAAPA’s Music Auditorium, George Frederic Handel’s “Sonata in G Minor”, for Oboe and Harpsichord, Charles M. Loeffler’s “Two Rhapsodies for Oboe, Viola and Piano” and Johann Kaliiwoda’s “Le Morceau de Salon”, Opus 228 for Oboe and Piano.

It was the second piece by Loeffler that I had the chance to listen to unhindered, standing behind a curtain just off stage, hidden from sight from the audience and also leaving me being unable to see the musicians themselves. I appeared to have created for myself a reasonable approximation of Pierre Schaeffer’s “Acousmatic Listening Environment” principle, in the sense that I could hear the sound but not see how it was being created, though I did know what was creating the sound. Listening to the piece of music this way gave it a whole new level of expressiveness and a whole new listening experience. Though the piece was only written for solo oboe, viola and piano, at times it sounded like many more instruments were playing along. The viola line at times resembled an entire string section playing along and the piano would glide along with lyrical subtlety of the flute or the thunderous crash of the entire percussion section. The oboe weaved through these textures with individual textures of it’s own, ranging from dark and sombre to bright and happy.

The overall effect from this veiled listening was that I never got the impression of singular instruments, rather, that there were sections of each instrument, all weaving lead and accompaniment as it was required. It was an amazing listening experience to know what was happening, but to hear something that sounded so different to what it should have been.

Zoe presented all her pieces beautifully and with the utmost professionalism. Stewart Smith’s harpsichord work was impeccable and David Wickham and Aaron Wyatt accompanied beautifully on piano and viola respectively. Though there were only 3 pieces being presented, it took 40 minutes to play through them and the recital ended with a tumultuous applause that lasted for several minutes.

Excellent work Zoe!

From the moment I entered the Perth Concert Hall, I could tell that this night was going to be exceptional. The place was booked out and the audience buzzed with anticipation to hear the WASO with its various guest musicians and Estonian-born conductor, Kristjan Järvi, entertain us with the Night of the Tango. From the first note played, we knew we were not going to be disappointed. The outstanding musicianship combined with the guest artist, Carl Kraayenhof on his Bandoneón, provoked many emotions from the appreciative audience; making us sigh, laugh, cheer and stamp our feet in applause. If anybody has the chance to see Night of the Tango, I would highly recommend that they do.

The opening piece gave the audience a taste of what the night would consist of. The music was passionate and intense and every individual player executed their parts with utmost precision. Each audience member was immersed in the exotic sounds that the large orchestra filled the Concert Hall with. Looking around I could see I was not the only person smiling and tapping away to the Latino beat. The fourth movement came to a close (after some brilliant playing by Tim White on the Marimba) and the audience absolutely erupted into well deserved applause.

A short break followed while many members of the orchestra filed out and in entered Carl Kraayenhof to play his Bandoneón. Although the orchestra was much smaller, this by no means hindered the sound and brilliance of the playing. Kraayenhof played 3 pieces by Piazolla; Punta de Este Suite, Milonga del Angel and Adiós Nonino on the accordion-cross-organ like instrument. Kraayenhof accomplished each piece well, creating such a rich Euro-centric tone whilst also interacting enthusiastically with Järvi and the solo violinist. The whole performance was proficient though relaxed and had some outstanding soloists, including Joel Marangella on the oboe and Emily Green-Armitage on the piano. The last piece Kraayenhof played, introduced as Piazolla’s most famous work, was a clear favourite.

The second half was just as thrilling, accurate and moving as the first and the whole orchestra had returned to the stage. The end of the 3rd movement was quite possibly the highlight of the night with the intense, driving percussion build up that had even members of the WASO tapping their feet along with. Nobody could sit still in their seat. The applause was so long and rapturous, that there was no choice but to play an encore.

The night was enjoyable with many outstanding musicians and soloists; however the two people who stood out were the solo violinist and the conductor. The violinists’ sweet and passionate tone captured me throughout the night and the way she interacted with the conductor and with Kraayenhof was a delight to watch. The conductor was such a colorful character. He knew the music so intimately and it was so engaging to watch him interact with each individual performer and see him relax and dance along to the music. It was these two people along with Kraayenhof that truly made the night so enjoyable and so memorable to all who saw Night of the Tango.

To visit the WASO website on their latest performances please go to:
 http://www.waso.com.au/

Reviewed By Cherie Lebrasse

This was the first concert for the classical department at WAAPA of the year and also Peter Tanfield’s debut as the orchestra’s conductor.

Peter Tanfield chose three works that reflected his personality, from serious virtuosic orchestral displays to charismatic movements of ballet suits. The turn out was good however the seats had not been distributed evenly, so the crowd; from a players point of view would have perhaps looked sparse.

The orchestra looked fantastic this year, with almost all the players wearing conservative clothing in a uniform black code. The aesthetics of the stage appearance from members of the orchestra to the lighting were nothing short of professional. The atmosphere was very serene and friendly with the odd chuckle coming from the audience members whenever any mishaps occurred, for example at one stage the conductor misplaced his music only to find it on the floor near the rise.

The pieces performed that in the first half of the evening were Giacomo Rossini’s Overture to “Semiramide” followed by Aram Ilych Kachaturian’s “Spartacus”, used for the theme music for the TV series “The Onedin Line”. In the second interval they performed the first act of Delibes’s “Coppelia”, a ballet.

Rossini’s overture was performed with a great stylistic understanding of both the overture style and the early romantic. It’s important to notice the great improvement that this orchestra has undergone under the care and supervision of Peter Tanfield. His guidance has not only sparked a renewal in the player’s beliefs in this orchestra but also in their beliefs in their own abilities as players. This was visible to everybody in the audience as the players could not and did not stop smiling. Overall the performance of this overture went along without a hitch.

“Spartacus” followed to stir emotions with soaring melodies and contrasting sections of furor and ardent passion. The orchestra members were tense to start off with but as the performance progressed they were able to relax and carry out a performance comparable to a professional standard. The orchestra performed harmoniously, from tempos to dynamics to the quasi choreographic bow movements. The audience’s response was astonishing.

And last but not least the grand finale of “Coppelia” a ballet by Delibes. The technical requirements for this piece were evident and the string players did a wonderful job at seeming relaxed and concentrating on the production of tone rather than every single note.

Overall this night was a great success and Faith Court raised the bar setting a new standard of performance not only for the orchestra itself but for the students them selves.

Choreography by Chrissie Parrot.

Visuals by Jonathan Mustard

Music by Martijn Tellinga, Set Fire to Flames and Jonathan Mustard.

Perth International Arts FestivalPICA performance spaceFebruary 15th 2008 Creators of multi-artform works sometimes struggle with the lure and impracticalities of over-stimulation. Crowding works with one too many items of sound, light or motion could divide the audience’s attention away from critical details. It is when a construction reaches a fine balance between its elements that these works flourish, allowing each part to contribute and compliment each other. Metadance in Resonant Light provided a subtle immersion in the combination of dance, music and image that allowed the viewer to absorb the entire show rather than be commanded to follow.

Metadance is a collaboration that is primarily a dance performance featuring four dancers. They are complimented by an array of projected dancers, video and lighting effects, all arranged over 3 movements with each set to one piece of music. While the work has been previously presented as an installation, it took on a new life as a live performance in the dimly lit performance space of Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts. The space had been divided into sections for this performance, with partially transparent drapes being drawn above the stage.

Jambird is a performance company that is determined to break traditions by integrating concepts and techniques from outside influences and allowing these to shape their works. This company is mainly a collaboration between Chrissie Parrot and Jonathan Mustard. Parrot is a well renowned, highly prolific, multi award winning dance choreographer and Mustard a new music composer, working with computer music, mixed media and visual arts. Together the works they create infuse dance with other forms of media, the latest focus being virtual dancers and the interaction between these and live dancers. The combination of the dancers and manipulations of space, video and light gave the overall performance an interesting shift in perception and made viewing the performance an entangling experience.

Arranged into three movements, each movement had a distinctive feel and pace, exploring a particular set of visual and musical dynamics. The first movement created a digitalized world and firmly entrenched the viewers into this space. Line after line of computer text scrolled across the stage and images of digital dancers appeared and then quickly dissapeared. This movement utilized music entitled Nodes by Dutch composer Martijn Tellinga which provided a computer generated musical setting of noise, glitches and computer fuzz. The sounds darted from speaker to speaker, rapidly changing pitch, attack, decay and volume and giving the impression of a moving and continually shifting space. The piece rose and fell in intensity as two dancers performed with digital counterparts, each copying the other - sometimes moving in sync at times and at other times in opposition. Utilizing this electronic form of composition gave a less linear form of direction for the movement, provided a sound world built upon incredible layers of sounds and added interesting spatilization effects, which could have perhaps been extended by a more numerous speaker set up.

The second movement featured two female dancers who performed with their counterparts which in this case was pre-recorded video footage of themselves projected on screens. This movement explored different combinations of real dancers and their two counterparts in various stage positions and in the case of the images, shades and reflections. The dance movements gave off a feeling of intense building frustration, leading to infuriation, the choreography lyrical and charged with emotion. The music for this section reflected this, building with intensity and layers as the dance gained momentum. A 14 minute epic by Canadian post-rock band Set Fire to Flames encompassed this movement. The piece began with sparse sounds and a single organ drone which over a significant portion of time built up to a multi layered sound mass of strings, bells, organ, percussion and static noise. The building of these layers was a gradual process of repeating short motifs over a period of time and slowly dragging in more sounds and instruments. The overall effect of the repetition and build-up proves contemplative and frustrating, melding with awkward and angered positions from the dancers. Finally, the piece comes to a climax and fades down to a string motif that is slightly microtonal, clashing dissonantly and further continuing the frustration and restless energy exhibited by the dancers and video.

The third movement presents the namesake of the work and represents the combination and complete delivery of all the aforementioned explorations and techniques. Re-arranging the stage into a maze of transparent drapes with line after line of computer code projected on it gave an eerie light to bathe the performers in. The lights shining through each drape gave a spectacular effect which was even greater when animated dancers were projected through. The sound-world was once again different, built from computer clicks and light taps to begin, it represented a more docile environment than the noisy first movement. The soundtrack by Jonathan Mustard didn’t stay static for too long and built up into a sea of sounds, drowning the audience in a flood of computer chatter. The visual aspects of this movement was once again very aesthetically pleasing as the dancers weaved around the stage in drawn-out wanderings. The only particular fault of this movement would be the startling shift to a french pop song mid movement, completely out of context to the overall concept of immersion in a digital world. This however wasn’t enough to snap the viewers out of it, and the audience took in the combination of visuals, sound and movement and applauded gratuitously.

Overall Metadance provided a great experiment in using specific elements of dance, visuals, computer generated images, light and music, managing to never overuse any particular aspect but cohesively join all together. While not all the music was original it still proved to be a powerful and evocative score that seamlessly entrenched the viewer in a particular sound world. The only faults of the piece would be the sound set up which could have proved more effective if in multi-speaker surround, or at least having the stereo set up easily audible to all members, which it often was not. If Metadance is anything to go by, Jambird will be conjuring up more dynamic multi-platform arts which are not only for those fans of dance, but the generally appreciative of well formed works.