Change font size
The Obelisk Radio - Now Playing: Loading... (iTunes)
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:15 pm


Post a new topicPost a reply Page 1 of 1   [ 1 post ]
Author Message
 Post subject: Nadja live at Whammy Bar, Auckland, NZ 5th Oct 2010
PostPosted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:19 am 

Joined: Mon Dec 27, 2010 8:50 pm
Posts: 10
The Whammy Bar is a perfect place for ambient drone and dirge music. It's an underground concrete bunker with irregular walls that seem perfect for creating standing wave harmonic reinforcement. As it was the sound from all the acts was impressive.
Upon arriving at the door, I ensured I made the most of the cheaper than usual CDs at the merch stand and picked up a decent number of Nadja (from their extensive discography) as well as an Aidan Baker solo release. I've written up some brief reviews after the below live review and the awesome bit of footage from the show taken by Rangiofthelight.


Once inside the Whammy bar, local electronic ambient artist Nigel Wright had just begun his set. I hadn't seen anything like this live in years. It was refreshing seeing someone performing washes of ambient Tangerine Dream style sounds through an electronic medium. Occasionally he would reach over and pluck the string of a guitar which seemed to be channelled though a laptop and a keyboard. The resulting sweeping sounds built up and up on top of each other creating an intense deep ambience. I'd be keen to check him out again some time.


Next up was Nadja's Aidan Baker performing his own solo material. This had a lot of similarity to Nigel Wright's, only the method of creation was different. Aidan's guitar fed into a table covered in guitar pedals arranged in a way that made sense only to him. By manipulating loop sequences, delays, reverbs and god knows what else, the sound coming out of his guitar was transformed into something dense and intense.


The Nadja set started where Aidan's solo stuff left off when he was joined onstage by his wife Leah. The sonic waves of spacious texture continued, but got more intense with heavy distorted guitar tones, Leah's bass adding a welcome low end and when the preprogrammed industrial drums kicked it felt like the earth was being moved. The set ebbed and flowed like a tide, building up and down without an obvious break between songs, although "songs" is probably not the right way to talk about the music. There was no verse chorus verse structure, it was just one big ugly beautiful soundscape. The recorded Nadja can range from quiet dream ambient to the most crushingly heavy dirge riffs and noise. This live performance seemed to capture equal amounts of both of these elements. Its not regular music made by regular musicians, its 2 people and a bunch of gear (Picture a table centre stage full of effects pedals and sound equipment from beyond. Aidan standing front on to the Audience with his Guitar and Leah Facing away from the crowd with her Bass) creating some kind of sonic alchemy. Its soaring and beautiful and brutal all at the same time. It's a sound that so many post-whatever bands try to capture, but no one seems to come close. The sound of staring into the void.

To read the full review and see footage from the gig go here: http://subcide-webzine.blogspot.com/201 ... y-bar.html


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post a new topicPost a reply Page 1 of 1   [ 1 post ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron


Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
610nm Style by Daniel St. Jules of Gamexe.net