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TAKTLOS-BERN festival
announcement
Friday/Saturday, 14./15. September 2001
Kulturhallen Dampfzentrale
Marzilistrasse 47
3005 Bern, Switzerland
http://www.dampfzentrale.ch
http://www.taktlos-bern.ch
mailto:info@taktlos-bern.chi
PROGRAMME
Friday, September 14, 2001
20.30h Fátima Miranda (E): ArteSonado. Eine szenische
Konzert-Performance für die Stimmen von Fátima Miranda
22.00h David Moss und Phil Minton (USA/GB): Two Tenors that sound
like a million
23.00h Curd Duca (A) / Mille Plateaux
24.00h Jamie Lidell (GB) / Warp
Saturday, September 15, 2001
20.30h Heiner Goebbels / Les Percussions de Strasbourg (D/F):
...Même soir.-
22.00h Velma (CH): Classique
23.00h Thomas Brinkmann (D) / supposé, raster-noton, profan,
ernst
24.00h Kid606 (USA) / Mille Plateaux
01.00h Jake Mandell (USA) / Force Inc., Carpark
Tickets: SFr 40 for the whole evening, or SFr 15 from 11.00 PM
Advance sales: Ticketcorner,www.ticketcorner.ch
Tickets can be reserved from Sept. 10, on +41 (0)31 312 1206
FESTIVAL INFO
Main focus "Music as theatre":
Fátima Miranda, Heiner Goebbels / Percussions
de Strasbourg, Velma, Moss / Minton
taktlos-bern sees itself as a forum for the very latest in music
located in the broad segment spanning club culture and the fine
arts. Types of performance range from the classical concert
through to the presentation of the room using surround sound. We
have an international gearing, and collaborate closely with
perfomers who are successful in todayŒs multi-media scene. This
is especially true of Fátima Miranda and Heiner Goebbels (see
below), whose musical, stage and visual language have succeeded
in setting them apart from the mainstream in recent years, and
have evolved a blending of music and theatre a development we
have followed closely, and documented on earlier occasions.
Another recent development which taktlos-bern has followed in
detail is the involvement of performers in the intermediate zone
of music and media art, to create fascinating visual and sound
worlds using computers. But that is not all: We also attach great
importance to conveying content in the performance area itself,
to lighting, stage, acoustics, image projections, not to mention
the appropriate presentation of the performers themselves. In
other words, we transfer the vast experience we have gathered in
recent years in presenting electronic music say with the
raster-noton collective at taktlos-bern '00 to a performance
context, in which electronics is only one of many aspects. The
music becomes more theatrical, people become more tangible, the
mood more complex. Once again, people are at the center of
things, as composers and performers, who make intelligent use of
technology. They employ sharply-honed musical skills to make
personal comments about the current overload situation of
digitally-generated sounds and images, and realize their highly
personal ideas in a contemporary manner.
The four program items mentioned cover a broad spectrum; not only
in terms of content, but also formally and personally, they share
a closeness to the (music-) theatre: from the Percussions de
Strasbourg which received worldwide acclaim, via Spanish vocalist
Fátima Miranda, who is assembling her latest work at the ZKM
Karlsruhe, from Velma - the young, Lausanne band with theatre
experience, to the two old hands Moss and Minton: the early part
of the evening at taktlos-bern 01 demonstrates four positions,
which span the range between theatre poetry produced using
high-tech (Miranda), a stage concert (Goebbels / Percussions de
Strasbourg), multi-media post-rock performance, and playful stage
performance (Moss / Minton). And if there are still people
wanting more, as of 11 PM the classical-experimental
electronica-program kicks off (see info-sheet) with more items
expressing strong, moving statements on the situation of the DJ
culture.
Main focus "Stage as club":
Curd Duca, Thomas Brinkmann, Jamie Lidell, Kid606
Music as theatre, the stage as club this is how one might
describe the two main focuses of taktlos-bern 01. While the early
evening is taken up with four performances of Goebbels /
Percussions de Strasbourg, Fátima Miranda, Velma and Moss /
Minton respectively, for which the stage becomes the presentation
forum for people, instruments and fantasies, this alters
dramatically from 11 PM onwards. There is only sound, at the most
a few projections, which underscore the atmospheric intensity of
the electronically produced sound. Gone is the frontal exposure
to sonic waves, the peep show box; they are replaced by an
environment of sound, image and light, in which one can submerse
oneself. No longer are texts and people at the center (no
narration!) but rather states, sounds, logos and an (acoustic)
symbolism, which fuses the animated club with the free consumer
world and sound research.
With its statements on the DJ culture Curd Duca, Jamie Lidell,
Kid606, Thomas Brinkmann and Jake Mandell taktlos-bern once
again demonstrates its feeling for the very latest trends from
the broad field of advanced electronic pop. In the past, people
such as DJ Spooky, Scanner, Panasonic, u-ziq, Amon Tobin, Jim
O'Rourke, Coldcut, Pole, Fennesz, raster-noton, Platzgumer or
Steinbrüchel have supplied music, which showed us how varied DJ
music is, and how it mirrors technological progress. The
performers featuring in the second half of the evening expand
this spectrum still further, and in making our choice we took
care to invite acts that are moving in the true sense of the
word. From the easy-listening fakes of Austrian performer Curd
Duca to the roughly mixed vocals and beats of the young DJ
Kid606, from the melancholy soundscapes of Thomas Brinkmann to
Jamie LidellŒs shaken up future funk and the hypersynthetic
post-techno of Jake Mandell: at taktlos-bern, late at night, one
is given an insight into the big, wild, danceable world of
sampling and enriched beat production, which seems to be held
together by no more than the club room itself.
taktlos-bern has presented modern music since 1980, including (in
chronological order): Lounge Lizards, Vienna Art Orchestra, John
Zorn, Last Exit, Anthony Braxton, Diamanda Galas, London Jazz
Composers' Orchestra, Fred Frith, Blauer Hirsch, Irène
Schweizer, Negativland, Michel Waisvisz, Heiner Goebbels and
ensemble moderne, ROVA, Vinko Globokar, Borbetomagus, ICP
Orchestra, Thomas Köner, Paul Bley, Amon Tobin, Maryanne
Amacher, Scanner, Marc Ribot, Granular Synthesis, Coldcut, Pole,
raster-noton.
ARTIST-INFOS
Friday, September 14, 2001
8.30 PM, Turbinensaal
Fátima Miranda (E): ArteSonado
Fátima Miranda is an extraordinary performer. After
acquiring a PhD in history of art, it was the early eighties when
she first discovered her voice partly as a result of studying
Far Eastern singing techniques. During this period, she also
headed the music library of the Cumplutense University in Madrid.
Indeed, music and history form the background of her works, which
she presents with considerable acting skills. In past years,
Miranda has participated in virtually all of EuropeŒs important
festivals, and received several awards for her work.
Her performances are a merging of conceptual severity and
poetical-atmospheric concentration; the everyday and dream world,
biographical experiences and fantasies are accorded equal space.
This is reflected in an exemplary manner in her latest piece.
Even the title implies a double meaning: ArteSonado can mean
"acoustic art", but also the ornamental decoration of
SpainŒs Arabian-inspired architecture. In ArteSonado, Fátima
Miranda also addresses the history of Spain; she recounts it
through nine chapters using highly-associative images. In front
of an enormous washing line, she paces off various stages, while
projections visible on the clothes complement and contrast with
what she recounts. Clothes are something we wear, we experience
our lives in them, and whether we intend them to be or not, are
an expression of our personal preferences and our area of action.
Miranda uses this metaphor simultaneously as a conveyor of images
and a screen, in order to realize her visual and acoustic ideas
in a poetic manner. The three elements music, scenography and
image create both stages and space for the imagination. The
performance begins with the solo voice of the artist, before
swelling in the course of the evening to an enormous choir a
choir created by incorporating the recorded voices of Fátima
Miranda. In doing so, the singer attaches great importance to the
reproduction of her voice being as unadulterated as possible, the
electronic system simply serves as an instrument to produce
intensity, alienated effects are not employed. That is often
difficult to believe, since MirandaŒs voice embraces four
octaves, and an unusual spectrum of expression. Proceeding with
precise choreography, sophisticated lighting control, and
cautious movements, the wealth of optical and acoustic
expressions is chaneled. Nevertheless, ArteSonado is a
wonderfully poetic piece: mediterranean subjects, a bazaar, the
jungle, ritual customs, but also ironic allusions or childhood
reminiscences are woven to form a carpet, life might have
embroidered itself.
In producing ArteSonado Miranda relied on the support of the
"Center of Art and Media Technology" in Karlsruhe.
taktlos-bern presents the Swiss première of the work.
10.00 PM, Kesselhaus
David Moss (US) / Phil Minton (GB): Two Tenors
that sound like a million
Moss and Minton two important figures on the vocal scene. But
can one apply the term vocalist to them? For although Minton has
already performed Schubert and Moss is shortly to appear in the
"Fledermaus" at the Salzburg Festival, the expression
is inadequate. The reason: both share the same problem, which is
simultaneously a constant challenge and opportunity: they have
nothing to rely on other than their own presence on stage, no
additional aids, no instruments, nothing. Just voice, actor,
person. They are neither composers, nor performers. Moss and
Minton are themselves. And that is a lot, perhaps in this
directness more than many people can deal with. For when someone
like Moss gets going, when someone like Minton coaxes the most
incredible sounds from his vocal chords, it is difficult not to
be moved by the sound.
Over the years, taktlos-bern has presented the two performers on
several occasions. And we had good reason to do so again, given
that both Moss and Minton have progressed from vocalist to actor
and back again a number of times, each time gaining new
experiences which they have incorporated into their next project.
At taktlos-bern, they perform without sophisticated equipment,
providing a starkly contrasting stance to the complex theatre
technology productions in the manner of Goebbels and Miranda.
Moss and Minton prove that two voices can also be theatre.
11.00 PM, Kesselhaus
Curd Duca (A), electronics (Mille
Plateaux)
There is one thing one cannot accuse Curd Duca of, and that is
mimicking trends. In fact, long before easy listening was
declared a hype by various music magazines, he had already
brought out two CDs: "easy listening 1" and "easy
listening 2". They were repeatedly aired by various radio
stations in the United States (in 1996, "easy listening
3" was the most-played record by reputed radio station WFMU,
New York), the German music magazine "Spex" declared
his CDs to be the best the 20th century had produced. His trilogy
"Elevator I III" appeared on the renowned German
label "Mille Plateaux", and the man from Vienna with
the highly-apt initials CD was also behind the theme tune for
popular MTV series "MTV-Latino". Meanwhile his standing
as the trailblazer of electronic music in Austria is uncontested.
Curd Duca is a charming acoustic musician, who charms an
inspiring whole from the microcosms of his sound fragments.
Anyone expecting the type of easy listening common to the 1960s
and 70s, is in for a disappointment. Duca does not look to the
past, his method of working is too modern for one to connect his
work with the typical retro sound. Put differently, Duca is much
closer to Brian Eno and Jimi Tenor, than the heroes of the early
60s, even though his music may seem to be full of
"misquotations " it is the very use of such devices
which makes him forward-looking.
Discography: easy
listening vol 1-5 (1992-96); switched-on wagner, mille plateaux
(1997); elevator 1, mille plateaux (1998); elevator 2, mille
plateaux (1999); elevator 3, mille plateux (2000)
Midnight, Kesselhaus
Jamie Lidell (GB), electronics / vocals (Warp)
The future of funk goes by the name of Jamie Lidell. If Prince
were still innovative, this, presumably is what he would sound
like. It was the end of 1999, when Lidell first shocked
open-minded listeners: Super_Collider is the name of the duo with
Christian Vogel, which combines distorted beats, ancient soul
vocals and a load of strange noises to an insistent mix, which to
top it all can also be danced to. Immediately afterwards, Vogel
produced a slightly more moderate version in "Rescate
137", and Lidell subsequently hit back with
"Muddlin'Gear". The history of funk and the essences of
Musique Concrète, technoid deconstructions and harmonious
melodies, surprising breaks and vocal sections make
"Muddlin' Gear" one of last yearŒs most outstanding
albums. Lidell, representative of the Brighton
"No-Future" collective, which is responsible for a
unusually productive output of irritating music, remains in
control despite the apparent chaos. The information overkill,
which pours out of the loudspeakers and at times fuses Miles
Davis with Sven Väth, is of a precise nature and cannot be
compared with the arbitrary mixing often simply employed because
the technological means exist. Critics are at something of a loss
to describe Lidell, resorting to categories such as
"abstract beats" or "experimental groove". We
want to form our own judgement, and are presenting Lidell live
and solo. taktlos-bern 01 will be his first performance in
Switzerland.
Discography: Super_Collider: "Head
On" (Warp, 1999), Jamie Lidell: Muddlin' Gear (Warp, 2000)
Saturday, September 15, 2001
8.30 PM, Turbinensaal
Heiner Goebbels / Les Percussions de Strasbourg:
...Même soir.-
Stage concert for six percussionists
Heiner Goebbels is a "Pursuer of materials, a user of
second-hand things, who constantly examines unwieldy advanced
civilizationŒs chances of survival in a joyful world of pop, and
often proves it can indeed survive. The scene is sound to him,
the text room, the music gesture, while man creates
distance." This is what the newspaper "Süddeutsche
Zeitung" writes about one of the most important contemporary
composers of our time, who employs music to re-define the limits
of the radio play and the theatre (particularly to texts by
Heiner Müller). And now Goebbels, the man who has made an
unconventional entry to so many areas, teams up with what is
arguably the most important percussion ensemble wordlwide. The
Percussions de Strasbourg have been around for 40 years, and have
premiered many 20th-century works; often enough the compositions
were written especially for the ensemble. The groupŒs founding
members resigned, and the rejuvenated ensemble is now entering
new territory with Goebbels in the form of a stage concert.
However, the composer did not present a completed score; instead,
he had the ensemble present their enormous arsenal of instruments
which then served as inspiration to him. Subsequently, the
material was elaborated in joint rehearsals, and gradually
evolved into a piece which could be performed. ...Même soir.-
Though a light, playful piece, it never drifts off into the
arbitrary GoebbelsΠinstinct for formal completion would
never allow that to happen. Anyone who has seen his previous
productions "Max Black" or "Hashirigaki"
knows what is meant.
The scene: an abstract office landscape, green carpet, a couple
of video projections disguised as flip-charts, neon light. It is
here that the musicians move and, with great love of detail
celebrate their instruments: gongs, drums, cymbals, pans, steel
rods, but also recorded sounds meld to form a graphic percussion
waxworks, which mirrors the lightness of the music. The title
says it all: ... on the same evening ... something else could
also happen. The piece is not a momentous, self-contained parable
or even a narration, nor does it contain any of GoebbelsŒ
musical socialization from the area of socially committed music
or jazz-related forms. Rather ...Même soir is like a peep-hole
for the curious audience to listen at and look through. Goebbels:
"The piece revolves around a mysterious, empty center. There
are no protagonists, no star, no language. I am simply attempting
to present everything which one could see in a concert."
Goebbels is a genius at making visible what is taken for granted,
of combining what appears to be incompatible. He not only
expresses this knowledge through his compositions, but more
recently has also begun conveying it to students, as professor at
Giessen University at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies.
taktlos-bern presents the Swiss première of ...Même soir.-.
www.heinergoebbels.com
10.00 PM, Kesselhaus
Velma (CH): Classique
Christophe Jaquet (vocals), Christian Garcia (guitar /
electronics),
Stéphane Vecchione (drums), Olivier Mariette (visuals), Julien
Grandjean (acoustics)
Not only is superior hip-hop produced in Lausanne, but also
atmospheric post-rock, which is highly popular with Californian
college radio stations the band Velma is a case in point. On
their second album "Cyclique" Velma choreographs
complex, lengthy and varied pieces. Sometimes the band melds
samples of classic and blues, followed by bare, minimal works
featuring guitar and amateurish vocals. For instance, in the
piece "Masquerade", something as profane as making
coffee is raised through its passionate, exciting treatment to a
meaningful activity. The musicŒs graphic quality is reflected in
the visual elements, which are projected onto moving screens with
an old 8mm projector.
In the past, Velma simply aimed at melding electronic with
acoustic, today it goes a step further. Stéphane Vecchione:
"There is always a research aspect to making this kind of
music. At the same time, we attempt to make our laboratory
accessible to others. Visual aspects with actors and projections
widen our horizons." Which explains why Velma sounds
different, depending on whether they are in the studio, on stage
(say in the Theâtre de Vidy Lausanne) or in a concert. But what
is characteristic is always the conceptional idea, which is
evident in all their works. That sounds restrictive, but it is
not only that: the band deliberately cultivates an ironic aspect
with a great deal of style, and the concept also allows for
emotional outbursts in the mode of old rock bands (otherwise the
group would presumably do without a live drummer...). What one
can say: Velma cleverly fills the gap between rock concert and
theater performance, displays a lot of retro charm combined with
acoustic competence, as well as the skilled use of modern
technology. That has not escaped notice abroad. Velma is a much
sought-after band, and is definitely one of the most interesting
Swiss bands around interesting because it performs in wide
variety of contexts, and because the formally precise use of
several acoustic and image media reveals great artistic
potential.
Discography: "Rhythmique", ITT
Records (1997); "Cyclique", Emperor Norton records
(1999); "Parole", Stetic records / Namskeio (2000);
"Cyclique 2", Mnarstik / Namskeio (2000);
"Natal", Mnarstik / Namskeio (2001)
www.velma.ch
11.00 PM, Kesselhaus
Thomas Brinkmann
Thomas Brinkmann penetrates into the very
essence of sound, and did so long before digital instruments came
on the market. Using records, or more precisely specially
prepared, scratched records, he experimented and looked for
analogies between the optical and acoustic expression. Regular
cuts in the vinyl provided him with the basic structure for his
self-spun, mechanical techno, which he varied in many ways,
including the use of multi-armed record players. At this point,
the art student Brinkmann, who was active on the productive scene
in Cologne, became acquainted with the music of Mike Ink, Richie
Hawtin and Wolfgang Voigt. Looking back, he says it was a
positive culture shock. Meanwhile he has created his own name and
sound under the names Thomas or Ester Brinkmann, brings out his
own productions and remixes on various labels, for example '20'
to 2000' by raster-noton. "I was always concerned with how
one could make acoustic photographs" says Brinkmann a
concept he has spent many years in exploring down to the smallest
detail, and often through dancefloor music. Brinkmann is
unobtrusive, suggestive, attractive in his simplicity, yet has a
lasting quality. Put briefly: his minimalist post-techno music
has a lot going for it!
Discography: thomas brinkmann: studio 1 variationen (profan cd
1997), ester brinkmann: voran (supposé 1998), thomas brinkmann:
x 100 (supposé 1998), ester brinkmann: weisse nächte (supposé
1999), ester brinkmann: july (20' to 2000, raster music 2000).
thomas brinkmann: soul center (w.v.b. enterprises/nl 1999),
thomas brinkmann: ernst q (ernst q 1999), thomas brinkmann: ernst
q rosa (ernst cd 2000), thomas brinkmann - klick (max.ernst,
2000)
Midnight, Kesselhaus
Kid606 (USA)
He is all of 22-years old, the young Californian who calls
himself Kid606 and comes from Venezuela. He has an enormous
overview, a cheeky approach, his sound is crude and his humor
coarse. Kid606 samples, fills his two Apple computers up to the
brim, and during his performance empties the hard disk down to
the last byte. Though he always begins with old drum'n'bass
beats, what he lays over the top comes from the latest archives
of pop history. He mixes vocal fragments, radio hits, and scraps
of easy-listening to a seething brew, which is then re-mixed
according to location and mood. Even though he works with
computers, one always feels that Kid606 is about spontaneous
acting and reacting: he plays live, rapidly and with lots of
energy, and does not rely on ready-made creations, which are then
reproduced on the night as closely to the original as possible.
Kid606, who also works under the names "tigerboy" and
"scsi bear", has no respect, is energetic and has spent
the last few years moving from club to festival, in order to
truly spice up Saturday night. As he will do for us.
Discography: P.S. I love you (Mille
Plateaux 2000), Down with the scene (Ipecac 2000)
www.tigerbeat6.com
01.00 AM, Kesselhaus
Jake Mandell
Jake Mandell has been around since the early nineties. His first
successful EP "Midwest" on the New York based label
"Lucky Kitchen" encouraged him to send a demo tape to
the englisch Label "Worm Interface". This was the basis
for the album "Parallel Processes". His second album on
"Force Inc." called "Quondam Current" is a
good example for the modern mimimalism in post-techno that is
being constructed with advanced computer skills. When producing
tracks, Mandell uses self programmed software with standard
applications available on the market in order to put layer upon
layer of music. He also sets himself free of pre-set standard
sounds and standard solutions. The press describes his music as
"intelligent dance music'. In other words: Mandell likes to
draw fine details, at the same time combines functional techno
with experimental sounds not to forget his love of ragged up
breakbeats like early aphex twin or autechre used to play.
Discography: Parallel Process (Worm
Interface 1999), Quondam Current (Force Inc. 2000), Love Songs
for Machines (Carpark 2001)
www.primedeep.cm
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Achtung Baby!
Last modified: 2001