Lady E
23rd October 2002, 14:08
From The Wire 20th Anniversary Edition November 2002
Review of DISSONANZE Festival Rome September 2002 by Anne Hilde Neset + Rob Young
The highlight was undoubtedly Super_Collider. Cristian Vogel and Jamie Lidell's
vox/funk/noise duo has swelled into an extraordinary and unprecedented 5 piece live outfit, visually bizarre and sonically busted. The drummer, seated behind a kit of electric pads, and bassist both clad in psychiatric-nurse white, held down a low, slow funk whose human frailty aided its periodic stutters. Vogel remained behind a bank of keyboards, mixers, effects and electronics, adding concrete noise and muted pads and patches over the bony groove. Man of the match though, was singer Jamie Lidell. He cut a weird and wayward figure, staggering around (and at one point falling arse about tit) whilse singing in an amazing post-Sly/Wonder/Jay Kay falsetto while sporting a succession of exotic outfits (a bearish coat covered with cassette tape "fur", a white rubber ghost sheet nailed to the stage). Add to the mayhem a live VJ who roamed the stage with a portable vidcam, practically shoving it up Lidell's nose, carried a super 8 loop projector on his shoulder, and strapped on a wearable turntable with whiched he scratched out rasping glitches and you had a mighty bastard dementia playing out in public. It is a potent route for live electronica, a cathartic experience managing to keep on the right side of spectacular. And it was one of the few moments that Dissonanze really lived up to its name.
Review of DISSONANZE Festival Rome September 2002 by Anne Hilde Neset + Rob Young
The highlight was undoubtedly Super_Collider. Cristian Vogel and Jamie Lidell's
vox/funk/noise duo has swelled into an extraordinary and unprecedented 5 piece live outfit, visually bizarre and sonically busted. The drummer, seated behind a kit of electric pads, and bassist both clad in psychiatric-nurse white, held down a low, slow funk whose human frailty aided its periodic stutters. Vogel remained behind a bank of keyboards, mixers, effects and electronics, adding concrete noise and muted pads and patches over the bony groove. Man of the match though, was singer Jamie Lidell. He cut a weird and wayward figure, staggering around (and at one point falling arse about tit) whilse singing in an amazing post-Sly/Wonder/Jay Kay falsetto while sporting a succession of exotic outfits (a bearish coat covered with cassette tape "fur", a white rubber ghost sheet nailed to the stage). Add to the mayhem a live VJ who roamed the stage with a portable vidcam, practically shoving it up Lidell's nose, carried a super 8 loop projector on his shoulder, and strapped on a wearable turntable with whiched he scratched out rasping glitches and you had a mighty bastard dementia playing out in public. It is a potent route for live electronica, a cathartic experience managing to keep on the right side of spectacular. And it was one of the few moments that Dissonanze really lived up to its name.