Mouse On Mars Live
I dragged Kate along to the Barbican Centre last Friday night to see experimental Berliners Mouse On Mars performing Paeanumnion with musikFabrik as well as a performance from Oval and Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge.
The Stockhausen piece that opened the evening, made up of tape recordings of children reading the book of Daniel, was interesting as a sonic experiment and if we'd been sat closer to the centre of the hall our position would've enhanced it all the more but in essence it's sounds and voices spliced and layered together to make an audio patchwork. You couldn't call it music but I don't think that's point of it.
Following this was Oval, warmly welcomed onto the stage and took up position behind a laptop and various other bits of kit. His performance was more enjoyable for someone used to structure and rhythm and although still experimental it was easier to follow than Stockhausen. No surprises there.
After the interval the musikFabrik orchestra took to the stage along with Mouse On Mars and their conductor for the night: André de Ridder.
Now things began to get really interesting, many of the player's instruments were 'prepared' with aluminium foil wrapped around their trumpets and woven between violin strings - I was excited before they'd even played a note!
What followed was a journey through sound; highs and lows working with all manner of machines, DiY instruments and musical techniques that were amazing not only to hear but also to see the orchestra making it happen right in front of me.
At the end of the evenings performances I left the hall feeling a bit dazed by everything I'd heard. At times it had been challenging listening but that was outweighed by the care and effort the musicians put into it who appeared to enjoy performing as much as the audience enjoyed listening.
I'm not sure if this is the beginning of a major change in my listening habits but it was a pleasure to hear something different and it's certainly an area I'm keen to continue exploring.