An excerpt. Live at Sónar 2010, Barcelona
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXAevrYhicI
Notes:
This latest audiovisual work from Ryoji Ikeda, presents intense flickering black and white imagery, which floats and convulses in darkness to a stark and powerful, highly synchronised soundtrack. Through a real–time computer programme, test pattern converts Ikeda's audio signal patterns into tightly synchronised barcode patterns on screen. The velocity of the moving images is ultra–fast, some hundreds of frames per second, so that the work provides a performance test for the audio and visual devices, as well as a response test for the audience's perceptions. test pattern is the third audiovisual concert in Ikeda's datamatics series, an art project that explores the potential to perceive the invisible multi–substance of data that permeates our world. Taking various forms – installations, live performance and recordings – test pattern acts as a system that converts any type of data (text, sounds, photos and movies) into barcode patterns and binary patterns of 0s and 1s. The project aims to examine the relationship between critical points of device performance and the threshold of human perception, pushing both to their absolute limits.
An excerpt from Formula:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOZRzjZ5Q-g
formula, a constantly evolving work updated with each presentation, is a perfect synchronization between Ikeda's sound frequencies and the movements on the screen. It places the viewer in a binary geometry of space, and exploits the darkness to amplify the perceptions, with outstanding success. Ikeda aims for the complete integration of the various elements, composing music, images, lighting and orchestrating the relationships between them through a highly precise score.
I believe this is from the DVD release and not a live performance.
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Reminds me (just a bit) of "Eno Test", which has been incorrectly attributed to Boards of Canada and to Marumari, but has an unknown source.
I, for one, am excited for AMR week. Interesting electronic stuff to kick it off, a little more glitchy than my usual taste, but it's an interesting concept.
Well, you classical week made me think to pull up some long-form stuff, and I was surprised to find this. This video is the first picture I've ever seen of the man. I always pictured him as Ryuichi Sakamoto, who has done a few things that sound vaguely Ikeda-ish (See: Coro), and Ikeda remixed a David Sylvain/Sakamoto collaboration called "World Citizen" which I think is pretty lame. (If only Ikeda could have remixed "Tong Poo"!)
(Back to "Test Pattern"...) The part at around 5 minutes, where the "strings" come in, is my favorite part of the album.
In college, I had just discovered the analog Finns of Panasonic (and like one day later they renamed themselves Pan Sonic to avoid a lawsuit). They toured the US opening for Trans Am, and came to the 400 Bar. A math classmate of mine was also going (I didn't realize we shared similar tastes until then), and suggested that if I like Pan_sonic, I should really check out Ikeda. I found +/- readily available and listened tons, moreso the headphonics part. That was my first listen to anything "glitch" or "clicks & cuts" so I've got a warm place in my heart for his music.
(Going from fully analog, straight-to-DAT Pan_sonic to entirely digital and painstakingly precise Ikeda is going from one extreme to the other, but I did immediately hear some resemblance in the overall sound.)
I've never really let his concepts get in the way of what I think is great music without having to think about the concept ("Matrix [for Rooms]"* and Op. excepted). Almost all of his recordings are built on the 44.1 kHz sine wave (the highest pitch available to CDs, like the hum of a mute cathode-ray TV). I can't really hear it, but my wife can, and it drives her nuts. So I never play Ikeda on speakers; pretty much headphones only.
*".matrix" is probably my favorite of his, so the double-CD Matrix was still worth it.
For another, less glitchy, warmer take on this sound, Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) sounds pretty good. I found For 2 in December, and I'm fond of it. I want to check out more of his stuff. Ikeda and Nicolai have twice collaborated as Cyclo.
not really the right place for it (in fact, it's probably the exact opposite), but as you're the name i most associate him with around here i thought i'd mention this: i picked up i see a darkness on a whim last night. my first dealings with the man. i'm in the middle of my fifth consecutive listen, and i'll probably hit play again once it ends.
...on second thought, should i have waited 1-6 days before posting this?
should i have waited
I'm not even 50% on what I'll be playing this week (life got in the way of scheduling things this weekend). But, I'm gonna say, I probably won't be playing any Oldham. Other folks have played his music (I actually got into him via this site), so I'll try to play stuff a bit further from the WGOM norm. But I might change my mind.
i'll probably hit play again once it ends
OK, some suggestions for further exploration:
1. Realize that Palace Songs, Palace Music, Palace Brothers, and the Will Oldham album Joya are basically the same as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. I think the early Palace iterations had more influence from his brothers Ned and Paul.
2. Do not pick up Arise, Therefore or There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You next. They are more difficult, as is his most recent The Wonder Show of the World. Arise, Therefore was recorded by Steve Albini in Cannon Falls, and features a drum machine and has no hooks or choruses.
3. I dig Sings Greatest Palace Music, which is a glossy Nashville-style re-recording or many of his Palace highlights. Fans who were along from the beginning felt like he was pissing on his (their) history.
4. Viva Last Blues, Superwolf, and The Letting Go might be the next best options for you to pursue next.
5. For me, I started with Ease Down the Road and Greatest Palace Music and it was like a dam bursting: I ended up with ilicit downloads for most of the albums within a month of that, and I've been buying them at my own pace.
6. Once you've gone through the albums, I have strong feelings about his collaborations and non-album tracks (some of which I feel are among his best songs), so come and ask me in a month or two if you're still interested.
7. I'm probably in a minority here, but I See a Darkness is not among my favorites. I have a hard time expressing it, but to me, it's kindof like his Nevermind: too perfect, a bit too slick (odd, because I like Greatest Palace Music more, but that was overproduced to excess as the point). Almost like the indie rock version of Oscar-bait, or shooting for 10.0 on Pitchfork (which it got). But, "Nomadic Revery" is so great, and I don't mean to knock the record. It's just rarely the one I want to listen to from him.
i see a darkness is slick and polished? huh. i look forward to hearing more then. i knew the man was quite prolific, and i also knew i wanted to check him out eventually, so i ended up with going for the most obvious point of entry. thanks for the road map, though. i'll definitely need it.
oh, and about the title track: i'm an idiot. when i first listened to it, i kept thinking that i knew this from somewhere, where the hell have i heard this before, etc. i realized it by the chorus at least. derp.
Will even sings backup on Johnny's cover.
I didn't realize that it was a Oldham song that Cash covered. I might have to check out this album.
I don't know if "slick and polished" is quite right, but it's the best I could come up with. I mean, Nevermind isn't so "slick and polished," is it? Just that much more than the stuff around it, perfected. (This is why I gave up on writing music reviews: my vocabulary is limited.)
If you like the rougher side, Days in the Wake has some of Will's best early songs, and they sound like (mostly) acoustic 4-track demos. (They might be all acoustic, but I can't say for sure from memory.)
nah, i think i get your meaning. again, showing me a way into the
lightdarkness.err, "thanks for showing...", i meant.
i think i'm the 5th person today that misses the edit button.