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Zarko · 04-20-2009, 08:47 AM

MiniMax

The 5th Adelaide Festival of Unpopular Music
Monday, 20 April 2009

Well as the name may suggest, for the last week (12th of April til the 23rd) there has been a ‘mini’ festival of sorts for experimental and underground musicians and groups of Adelaide. I had a quiet chuckle at the use of the word ‘unpopular’ but I give kudos for being blatantly honest. Anyway, throughout the two weeks there has been an array of electronic/jazz/contemporary classical artists that have performed for the festival.

The site of this festival is the ‘De La Catessen’, a tiny little live gig spot off a dinky little side street. The area was a 6 metre by 16 metre room, with 8 fold up chairs lining the walls on either side (4 rows of 4 all up), with a few metres down one end devoted to the band. All up there were around 14 people there, not including the 3 artists.

Anyway, the actual band is a small local free jazz-electronic group known as MiniMax. The main bloke on the computer, Luke Harrald, is actually a uni lecturer to one of my close friends, doing a degree in some form of sound technician. Derek Pascoe was on sax and Chris Martin was on piano/keyboard.

The three set up down one end, of course, we didn’t actually face them. The opposite wall was covered in a white sheet, and I was quite pleasantly surprised to find out it would be an ‘audio visual experience’, with the two working in conjunction. I also discovered that their surrounding theme was technology in modern day society, which I thought would be fairly interesting. As most people understand its difficult describing these sort of gigs, but if I was to compare their style to any, it would be a more jazzified version of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore or a darker electronic version of The Necks.

The piece was a single 50 minute long extravaganza that was really divided into a clearly different 4 sections. The first 15 minutes were a ‘pace setter’, with a deep melancholic feeling to it, with a heavy emphasis on the electronics and a down tempo keyboard performance. All along Pascoe was making an odd ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’ noise using his saxophone. No clear notes were produced, and I really had no idea how he was doing it and deduced that he was using some odd breathing patterns and mouth movements. It was quite surreal to be facing a wall of moving, heavily distorted and pixelated images on the wall and to have that ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’ noise approach from behind you. The electronics weren’t heavy, and the images weren’t anything too concise. Random indiscernible words would float in from all directions, against a backdrop of pixelated images that had flashes of deep and dark colours popping up at random times in square form. At times it would almost look like a puzzle, as the musicians attempt to sort out the assortment of pieces into one.

I would occasionally turn my head towards the trio, and at one point I saw Pascoe stand up and face the corner with his sax in hand. I was worried at what was happening (Don’t want an instrument failing on you at a time like this), but low and behold, he starting ripping out some free jazz lines playing directly into the corner. The overall tempo of the piece changed, from a deep and dark gloomy feeling to some harsher and more violent times. For the next 10-15 minutes, Pascoe would play directly into the corner, creating an almost haunting echo to the sax notes rather than a direct and high pitched blast. The electronics became glitchier, as well as some faint sampled voices, saying random things about technology today. The pictures become quicker moving and more hostile, as ‘waterfalls’ of pixelated writing came screaming down the wall, before it turned to what looked like an old school three-quarter view videogame, but was much harder to discern, and most of the detail was taken away, with only the key items of interested being left on screen. The shapes were made out of red lines against a black backdrop, as something struggled in the middle of the screen, being attacked by random rays of light. Pascoe had quite an interesting style, quite proficient, but he offered some raw intensity, as if the sax was groaning at times, and towards the end of his highlights he made it sound as if it was ‘running out of air’.

As the sax struggled to release its power with less and less air, Martin on piano became more and more prominent, and the picture gradually changed from the harsh red on black images to what almost looked like a sky filmed over time and fast forwarded. At this time, Harrald started sampling a string ensemble, which along with the fine piano work and calmed down saxophone, produced a 10 minute section of serene bliss. It all gathered up so well, that when live and with the images, it was almost the most perfect moments I have ever experienced at a gig.

As the piece went on for its last ten minutes, the electronics were gradually phased out, and more technological images began to appear. The piano/sax duo was solid, each doing their own thing but making it part of something larger. It wasn’t quite as dark as the initial part of the piece was, but it still carried a melancholic feel, as if this technology can never be defeated, but an uneasy peace can be obtained. The ‘piece de resistance’ was the book ending of the piece, as Pascoe began the ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’ once again, until it all eventually faded to nothing, the last sounds heard ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’.

I was surprised at its conclusion to find that 50 minutes had passed, it all felt so fluent and explored many ideas to their maximum. It was a well spent 8 dollars all up (3 on the pamphlet, 5 on the gig itself) and although it might not be much, I think we all must make an effort to support local underground acts such as these types of festivals. More often than not they support my tastes, so I may as well do the same. Although I can’t make it to the 21st or 22nd (One being a post rock group known as the ‘Bitches of Zeus’ and the other being a solo performer, Adam Page, who I have seen more than enough times with his insanity), the final show I might get to is ‘Hidden Village’, consisting of Sebastian and Lauren Tomczak, who are quite well known around the world in the chiptune community (Utilising the sounds of retro game consoles to build up their performance). I don’t know if I will write a review, but by all accounts they are quite the interesting duo. A great wonder of mine is a creation of Sebastian, who made some contraption that consisted of lasers (hooked up to some form of synth I suppose) pointing into a basin of water. The way in which the water was acting would change the tonal output of the synths, and he made a performance out of dropping random things into the basin and experimenting with the resulting sounds.

In conclusion, top gig, and I was surprised such a thing still exists in little old Adelaide. The actual music was nothing ground breaking, but it was still great to experience it live.

Thanks to the trio, as well as Luke Altmann for hosting the AFUM, and we can only hope that he continues to do so in the future.

04-20-2009, 08:47 AM	#58 (permalink)
Zarko Barely Disheveled Zombie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 1,196	MiniMax The 5th Adelaide Festival of Unpopular Music Monday, 20 April 2009 Well as the name may suggest, for the last week (12th of April til the 23rd) there has been a ‘mini’ festival of sorts for experimental and underground musicians and groups of Adelaide. I had a quiet chuckle at the use of the word ‘unpopular’ but I give kudos for being blatantly honest. Anyway, throughout the two weeks there has been an array of electronic/jazz/contemporary classical artists that have performed for the festival. The site of this festival is the ‘De La Catessen’, a tiny little live gig spot off a dinky little side street. The area was a 6 metre by 16 metre room, with 8 fold up chairs lining the walls on either side (4 rows of 4 all up), with a few metres down one end devoted to the band. All up there were around 14 people there, not including the 3 artists. Anyway, the actual band is a small local free jazz-electronic group known as MiniMax. The main bloke on the computer, Luke Harrald, is actually a uni lecturer to one of my close friends, doing a degree in some form of sound technician. Derek Pascoe was on sax and Chris Martin was on piano/keyboard. The three set up down one end, of course, we didn’t actually face them. The opposite wall was covered in a white sheet, and I was quite pleasantly surprised to find out it would be an ‘audio visual experience’, with the two working in conjunction. I also discovered that their surrounding theme was technology in modern day society, which I thought would be fairly interesting. As most people understand its difficult describing these sort of gigs, but if I was to compare their style to any, it would be a more jazzified version of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore or a darker electronic version of The Necks. The piece was a single 50 minute long extravaganza that was really divided into a clearly different 4 sections. The first 15 minutes were a ‘pace setter’, with a deep melancholic feeling to it, with a heavy emphasis on the electronics and a down tempo keyboard performance. All along Pascoe was making an odd ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’ noise using his saxophone. No clear notes were produced, and I really had no idea how he was doing it and deduced that he was using some odd breathing patterns and mouth movements. It was quite surreal to be facing a wall of moving, heavily distorted and pixelated images on the wall and to have that ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’ noise approach from behind you. The electronics weren’t heavy, and the images weren’t anything too concise. Random indiscernible words would float in from all directions, against a backdrop of pixelated images that had flashes of deep and dark colours popping up at random times in square form. At times it would almost look like a puzzle, as the musicians attempt to sort out the assortment of pieces into one. I would occasionally turn my head towards the trio, and at one point I saw Pascoe stand up and face the corner with his sax in hand. I was worried at what was happening (Don’t want an instrument failing on you at a time like this), but low and behold, he starting ripping out some free jazz lines playing directly into the corner. The overall tempo of the piece changed, from a deep and dark gloomy feeling to some harsher and more violent times. For the next 10-15 minutes, Pascoe would play directly into the corner, creating an almost haunting echo to the sax notes rather than a direct and high pitched blast. The electronics became glitchier, as well as some faint sampled voices, saying random things about technology today. The pictures become quicker moving and more hostile, as ‘waterfalls’ of pixelated writing came screaming down the wall, before it turned to what looked like an old school three-quarter view videogame, but was much harder to discern, and most of the detail was taken away, with only the key items of interested being left on screen. The shapes were made out of red lines against a black backdrop, as something struggled in the middle of the screen, being attacked by random rays of light. Pascoe had quite an interesting style, quite proficient, but he offered some raw intensity, as if the sax was groaning at times, and towards the end of his highlights he made it sound as if it was ‘running out of air’. As the sax struggled to release its power with less and less air, Martin on piano became more and more prominent, and the picture gradually changed from the harsh red on black images to what almost looked like a sky filmed over time and fast forwarded. At this time, Harrald started sampling a string ensemble, which along with the fine piano work and calmed down saxophone, produced a 10 minute section of serene bliss. It all gathered up so well, that when live and with the images, it was almost the most perfect moments I have ever experienced at a gig. As the piece went on for its last ten minutes, the electronics were gradually phased out, and more technological images began to appear. The piano/sax duo was solid, each doing their own thing but making it part of something larger. It wasn’t quite as dark as the initial part of the piece was, but it still carried a melancholic feel, as if this technology can never be defeated, but an uneasy peace can be obtained. The ‘piece de resistance’ was the book ending of the piece, as Pascoe began the ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’ once again, until it all eventually faded to nothing, the last sounds heard ‘ta-ta-ta-ta-ta’. I was surprised at its conclusion to find that 50 minutes had passed, it all felt so fluent and explored many ideas to their maximum. It was a well spent 8 dollars all up (3 on the pamphlet, 5 on the gig itself) and although it might not be much, I think we all must make an effort to support local underground acts such as these types of festivals. More often than not they support my tastes, so I may as well do the same. Although I can’t make it to the 21st or 22nd (One being a post rock group known as the ‘Bitches of Zeus’ and the other being a solo performer, Adam Page, who I have seen more than enough times with his insanity), the final show I might get to is ‘Hidden Village’, consisting of Sebastian and Lauren Tomczak, who are quite well known around the world in the chiptune community (Utilising the sounds of retro game consoles to build up their performance). I don’t know if I will write a review, but by all accounts they are quite the interesting duo. A great wonder of mine is a creation of Sebastian, who made some contraption that consisted of lasers (hooked up to some form of synth I suppose) pointing into a basin of water. The way in which the water was acting would change the tonal output of the synths, and he made a performance out of dropping random things into the basin and experimenting with the resulting sounds. In conclusion, top gig, and I was surprised such a thing still exists in little old Adelaide. The actual music was nothing ground breaking, but it was still great to experience it live. Thanks to the trio, as well as Luke Altmann for hosting the AFUM, and we can only hope that he continues to do so in the future. Last edited by Zarko; 04-23-2009 at 07:49 AM.