Sufjan Stevens - Muziekgebouw Eindhoven May 21st 2011

Sufjan Stevens is definitely in a league of his own. A colleague just asked me what kind of music it was and I honestly couldn’t tell her. His music before ‘The Age of Adz’ was kind of folky with a twist, and a bit too sweet for my taste most of the time.

The present is different. The shy boy has blossomed into a blazingly proud swan. Flapping his gigantic white wings, he owns the stage and commands his audience into rapturous delight. They’re dancing, albeit on the square half yard that the sold out venue condemns them to.

He dances too. The flickering UV lights create an eerie vision of a mechanical puppet from the neon colour blocks on his black clothes. He jumps up and down to the relentless beats left and right, two drummers working miracles with the complex material of the demanding songs. I stand in awe of all these fine musicians, trombones, keyboards and guitars too. Like a big band but edgier and smoother at the same time.

‘I want to be well’ gets my goose bumps on with its palpable intensity. Sufjan’s gaze is serious. It must be hard to bare your soul to people you barely see, let alone know. The crowd welcomes his honesty with appreciative attention and loud cheers afterwards. A gentle acoustic song about his sister (and anyone’s sister for that matter) makes for a bittersweet intermezzo. We catch a chatty side to the singer. But the best is yet to come.

You can hear a pin drop during the first tentative notes of ‘Impossible Soul’, Sufjan’s magnum epos that clocks in at 25:34 minutes on the album. We all couldn’t believe he would be able to pull this one off live but there it is. And it’s absolutely breathtaking! This is not a song, it’s a cosmos with all its melodic intricacies and stories of love and loss, and Sufjan even dons a cosmonaut costume that reminds me of Peter Gabriel in early Genesis (giving away my age there). More wings and wigs, more jumping fun, dancers taking front stage, a pink rabbit playing trombone. If this sounds like mayhem, think again – this show with all its fascinating projections on see through drapes is fabulously orchestrated and controlled. It’s the party you always wanted to attend but never got invited to.

And balloons! Hundreds of them, big ones and small ones coming down on the ecstatic crowd. Loved it! Whatever could succeed such a climax? We’re made to believe nothing will and the final (?) applause goes on for over ten minutes. Then Sufjan and his troupe, changed into their daily gear, take ‘Chicago’ (yes, the folky hit song from his 2005 album ‘Illinoise’) into one big sing-along encore.

So what kind of music is it? It has beautifully crafted songs with complex structures, layers of singing and not your average instruments. It borrows from rock, folk, funk as well as classical music. I’d suggest you just give it a listen.

Like or fave?

There’s this flourishing ‘like & fave’ culture in social media that intrigues me. Different media use it in different ways and a ‘like’ on one site seems more important than a ‘fave’ on another.

I was one of the first Flickr-users, way back in 2004 and as far as I recall, it was the first time I came across the possibility to fave a picture. Until this day it has been one of the most useful features of this site for me because it allows me to: a) show my respect for somebody’s work, and b) build a nice collection of favourite pictures from all over Flickr. A pretty organised collection at that as I can search and filter it in various ways. YouTube faves work in a similar way but YouTube offers an extra: you can ‘like’ a video by giving it a ‘thumbs up’.

Twitter also lets you ‘fave’ someone’s tweet to build a collection but for me it’s too fleeting a medium to use that collection the way I use it on Flickr. The tweets I’d like to save in any way usually involve links that I can bookmark – so why save the tweet?

Facebook has many ways to show your preferences. You can like anything: a status, a video or picture, a whole page, even a comment! Now this is where a true ‘like & fave’ culture is developing, with its own meticulous rules. You can like a video or picture in the same way you would on YouTube but you cannot fave them to build a collection. In that case you will have to ‘share’ the link on your own profile, which is of course the ultimate ‘like’ as the original poster will see that you liked it enough to want to share it on your own wall with your own contacts. That way it becomes a personal ‘fave’.

You can like a status to indicate that you’ve been there or that you agree. And liking a comment can mean anything from ‘I agree’ to ‘I wish I’d come up with that’ or just ‘I hear you’. Liking a page (or a group) is like subscribing to a YouTube user’s account or adding a contact on Flickr: you get to see their updates/videos/pictures on/in your wall/stream/email. It filters the information on your wall to suit your interests.

Facebook also has ‘incoming’ likes from other websites. I see increasingly more pages that use this feature where you can not only ‘share’ the page or website (which is often a tad too much honour) but also ‘like’ it so that it appears as a simple statement on Facebook or Twitter.

Finally, there’s the call for a ‘dislike’ button on Facebook. It’s obvious why Facebook doesn’t offer this – they want to keep things positive. If you don’t like it, just ignore it or don’t click on a link. Sometimes however, you wish to show your appreciation but because of the nature of the message it seems inappropriate to ‘like’ it. How to handle this without risking abuse of the button?

It happens every day on YouTube which does offer a ‘dislike’ button. This button (the ‘thumbs down’) isn’t used to indicate that you appreciate the posting while disliking the nature of the message. It’s largely used to vent frustration, like so many comments on YouTube videos. The ‘if you don’t like it, just ignore it’ doesn’t work quite the same here. I even suspect some people take pleasure in seeking out videos they can put abusive comments on. I know it forced me to publish my videos friends only.

All in all, it looks like all these Facebook features offer the most detailed ‘diary’ on your wall. It shows your status, your activities & likes, both on FB itself and incoming. With all the liking, sharing and filtering going on, you can easily imagine using it as your homepage to keep updated on all things you care about. It’s the Daily You, tailor made.

Best concerts of 2010 :)

1. Rufus Wainwright - Crossing Border, The Hague, November 18
Stunning. Great seats (second row, just left of centre) and an awesome view of the grand piano. The hands! The big surprise of seeing Stephen Oremus enter to accompany Rufus on a set of Judy songs. I could never have imagined that I would enjoy these so much. Stunning indeed :) Third time around this year but The Hague was the best. Meeting Rufus per chance again outside the venue. I love being able to thank him for the performance and I know he enjoys that. He truly loves his fans. Being recognized = bliss :)

The Walking Song. Emotions rippling through the theatre. The tears. Nuff said.

2. Sam Amidon - Cultuurcentrum Roepaen, Nijmegen, November 7
Imagine a nightclub setting in a former convent. Red drapes everywhere, small tables, red wine on the table. Front row. Sam singing 'Im Wunderschoenen Monat Mai', at least part of it. Alienating, mesmerizing. Saying hello to Sam passing by the ladies room. Getting a big smile and a 'Hi!'.

3. Jónsi - Paradiso , Amsterdam, June 3
Awesome show with amazing visuals. Great view from the balcony. Loved every moment! The album didn't make it to my list of 10 but was a great runner up!

4. Britten Sinfonia with Pekka Kuusisto & Mark Padmore - Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, January 27
A duet by Steve Reich, John Adams's Shaker Loops and a world premiere by Nico Muhly. Cafavy's poems set to music and sung heavenly by British tenor Mark Padmore. Goose bumps. So looking forward to see more world premieres by Nico next January!

5. The Whale Watching Tour - Barbican, London, September 27
Had front row tickets for the concert planned in April, went to London only to find the gig cancelled because of the ash cloud. Returned my tickets and got front row tickets again for September. Ah well, another trip to London... Glorious gig!

Best albums of 2010 :)

"Those lines that I before have writ do lie,
Even those that said I could not love you dearer:
Yet then my judgment knew no reason why
My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer."
Sonnet 115 - William Shakespeare

Sometimes passion returns with a vengeance and that's what happened last year. Here's my list of 10 Albums of 2010, in alphabetical order - please click the titles to listen:

1. Antony & The Johnsons - Swanlights
I saw Antony last year and his concert made it to my list then. Must admit that I did like 'The Crying Light' a bit better than this album but Antony's albums are always of such high quality that they make it to my top ten!

2. Daníel Bjarnason - Processions
What a revelation to hear this album! Awesome music on the crossroads of experimental, noise & classical. This should have been on my list of 2009 because that's when a few lucky devils (including me) got the special pre-order edition... but it came out officially in 2010. Will be seeing Daníel at Cross-Linx festival in February and looking forward to that very, very much!

3. John Grant - The Queen Of Denmark
Discovery of the year for me. Very intense and self deprecating (with tongue in cheek), just the way I like it! Hope to see him live sometime.

4. Nico Muhly - I Drink The Air Before Me
This album blew me away, it's soooo powerful! Everyone should listen to this at least once. Saw Nico live 3 times last year and already have 2 concerts planned (with tickets in hand) for January 2011! Talk about crossroads... Nico is always exploring new horizons while working with some of the finest musicians in both the classical and pop/rock world. Catch one his many gigs if you can!

5. Owen Pallett - Heartland
Intellectual pop with an edge, always a pleasure to listen to. Will catch Owen at Cross-Linx festival as well! (hey, guess cross-linx music is my music)

6. Rufus Wainwright - All Days Are Nights, Songs For Lulu
Ah, what can I say? Back with a vengeance indeed. The album I've been waiting for: pure, naked Rufus (lol, I wish). Only for the initiated! Attended 3 of his solo shows and already have tickets for 3 more in July 2011...

7. Sam Amidon - I See The Sign
I did a blog review of this album a while ago. Sam at his best with haunting folk songs that will touch you to the bone. Was lucky to catch him live 3 times this year, once with The Whale Watching Tour and twice solo. Amazing experiences!

8. Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz
The Brooklyn Scene on spots 8 & 9. Sufjan surprises again with a very upbeat album. Again, melodies with a twist and layers of sound & meaning. Get dancing!

9. The National - High Violet
I just love the side projects of the band members, always in for some fun. Hope to see the Dessner Bros perform in some side projects (along with a full set of The National) at Cross-Linx festival next February...

10. Valgeir Sigurðsson - Draumalandið
Ah, Valgeir - one of the friendliest and most generous musician/composers I've met last year. Turned out an album called Dreamland but don't be fooled by the title! Powerful landscapes of sound that are sometimes soothing and sometimes menacing, like Iceland itself I guess. Saw him live twice this year (as a duo with Ben Frost and with The Whale Watching Tour) and both concerts were mindblowing :)

Best concerts tomorrow!

Whale Watching Tour - second time

Last Monday's concert was a second time in two ways. It was not only the second time I saw the Whale Watching Tour in full glory (the first time being in 2009, Eindhoven), but also the second time I travelled to London to catch them at the Barbican (the first time in April cancelled due to the Icelandic ash cloud).

Second time's always better, they say... we'll see.

What I liked better about this concert, was the fact that the four 'supporting musicians' -who were kept at the back of the stage in Eindhoven- got to take centre stage now in certain compositions. Una Sveinbjarnardóttir on violin was stunning in her glorious performing of 'Honest Music' by Nico Muhly. Her face reflected the different moods of the piece and I really got absorbed in those moods; absolutely beautiful.

And Nadia... I love Nadia Sirota and the things she does on her viola. When Nico Muhly asked her to step into the limelight for 'Keep in Touch', I held my breath for it's such a demanding song - not just to play, but also to listen to. The piano understream, the repetitively disrupting sounds made by Valgeir Sigurðsson tapping the microphone, together with Antony Hegarty's (taped) wailing vocals, provided a perfect background for the haunting sounds Nadia created. She's something else.

What I liked less was Helgi Hrafn Jónsson singing 'Baby Architect' and 'Kin' at the front of the stage. In Eindhoven, Helgi amazed us when he started to sing Nico's 'Mothertongue' composition from the back of the stage. Who'd have imagined that the unassuming trombonist could sing? Centre stage, and in these specific songs by Valgeir, Helgi is not well casted (IMO). His overly dramatic gesturing, his often artificial dynamics and abrupt changing from high to low singing, was a bit distressing to my ears. I would have loved to hear Sam Amidon sing 'Baby Architect' as he has done before.

Sam doesn't need any addings to his pleasant voice and easygoing stage presence. He's just there as if he was singing in his parents' living room.

It was very nice to see the chemistry between all these people on stage again. Nico brilliantly conducting with his eyebrows and pointed index finger, Ben Frost testing the hall's foundation with his deep drones (I can still feel them in my stomach). Ben & Valgeir exchanging glances & laptops. All four of them changing places at times. Borgar Magnason on double bass being the steadfast character on stage, providing rhythmic undertow and eerily channeling whales as well as wolves in Ben Frost's haunting noise pieces.

All in all an excellent evening that went past much too fast. Oh, did I mention the different start from Eindhoven? As an 'opening act', we got Marc Silver's bird film featuring half a million starlings, coupled with Ben Frost's music 'There are no others, there is only us'. Magnificent.

Some pictures to be found HERE.

Birthday weekend

Had a lovely birthday last Saturday! Per chance, I'd found out only a week ago there was to be a festival of sacred music in Maastricht (which is quite close to us), called Musica Sacra. The two things on Saturday that I wanted to attend were both free and quite extraordinary! The family was with me.



We saw Alain Louafi performing 'Inori' by Karlheinz Stockhausen in the morning. Inori is Japanese for prayer, evocation, adoration, and the performance consisted of ritual movements as laid down meticulously in the score by the composer. The Centre de Recherche et de Formation Musicales de Wallonie delivered the sounds, beautifully distributed over the immense factory hall of Ainsi. When we lived in Maastricht, we used to know this as Enci (Eerste Nederlandse Cement Industrie), a cement factory that took away large chunks of the landscape of the Sint Pietersberg. It's great to see these old industrial buildings being reused as buzzing cultural centres.

I was very moved by Stockhausen's score and the performance of Louafi. My husband couldn't stand watching him because of the 'artificial movements' that kept repeating to certain recurring sounds. Well, ritual movements are inherently artificial and I found the repetition in both music and movements quite trance inducing. But then again, listening with eyes closed is nice too :)



After lunch we went for the heart of the city, the relatively new Entre Deux city mall. This is an enclosed, but open-aired mall - check the picture! Imagine the impact of the beggar's voice in 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet', slowly pervading the space between the shops. This well known composition by Gavin Bryars was performed by ensemble Insomnio, sitting in the middle of the mall. A lonesome trombonist walking the higher shopping galleries, intermittently taking over from the beggar's voice. Powerful stuff. Nice to see some people watching and listening for a while, then just going on with their shopping - while others stood there silently and attentively for 45 minutes.

A lovely dinner with my beloved ones afterwards, what more could one wish for? Extended family on Sunday, as it should be... Great weekend all in all, thanks everyone!

Cagelist

The late Mr. John Cage celebrates this Sunday his ninety-eighth birthday. Last year or the year before, someone on the Internet — was it The Standing Room? — had the excellent idea of marking the occasion by creating a 4'33" playlist on iTunes.

I'll follow Alex Ross's example but couldn't find as many tracks as he did... Lots of Cagelists on Twitter, just use the hashtag #Cageday to find them. Fun! Please click the image below to get a better view of my list:



We went to see Else Olsen Storesund playing Cage on prepared piano yesterday which was awesome.