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Heh, I guess I’d file that under ensemble jam in the beginning, perhaps leaning towards a more typical SS sound. After Bent and Kenneth takes charge of the rhytm section around the 5 minute mark the focus is more on the MP side, I guess. Towards the end it starts to sound a lot like the final number of yesterday’s show – groovy and noisy and possibly about to go on for a bit too long.
@Hovmod: Any chance of a sample upload? I’d really like to hear the encore again, for instance.
For my part I found that the ear buds enhanced the experience a lot, as I could clearly hear WHAT they were playing at all times. I remember going to a MP-gig without them once, and when they started the droning jam during The Wheel I found it completely pointless and annoying, because it sounded as if they all just _rumbled_ on time for 10 minutes on end – all sense of melody and structure was lost.
@Hovmod: I’d definitely like to hear a recording of yesterdays show, even if it’s a low quality one it would be better than nothing.
Speaking of which, has any recording from the MP+SS tour surfaced at all so far? Nothing on Dime as far as I can tell. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that there’s some official taping/filming going on, though there were no cameras yesterday that I could see.
Just came back from the gig at Verkstedhallen. Here’s my review, for those who weren’t there:
Having read some of the posts in this thread and some of the reviews I really didn’t quite know what to expect. I guess I feared a set that never even approached familiar terrain – aimless noodling in the mellow bits and wave upon wave of cacophonic noise in the extreme bits. I guess you know what I mean; I love the accelerating expressway-to-hell bit in K9 from Roadworks 1, but without the bookends of an actual song around it it would be a lot more tedious. Striking the right balance between excess and restraint is very important in any setting, and no less so in a show so reliant on improvisation. In sum I guess you could say I was hopeful but a little anxious.
At 21:30 the lights dimmed, the guys came onstage and they went immediately into an atmospheric one chord jam, building it steadily like we know they can do almost with eyes closed, taking it to a great climax and working their way back down from the mountain again. Lots of contributions from all involved, and it’s always a treat to have Deathprod in on the game. They followed this with another, groovier jam and just when I thought that they were starting to lose the momentum a bit a familiar groove emerged as Bent and Kenneth took the jam straight into the “Hallucifuge” part of LLM! Easily one of the coolest moments of the evening: Snah even nailed the singing, which doesn’t always happen. After this (about 30 minutes in) the highlights came thick and fast in what I thought was the best part of the show; there was a nice balance between jammy bits where they could all stretch their legs a bit and actual songs that kept the momentum going. We were treated to “The Getaway Special” and “The Bomb-Proof Roll and Beyond” with long, spaced-out pieces in between. Thus concluded the first hour of the show, and the first breather for applause.
The final “number” of the concert proper proved to be somewhat disappointing compared to the rest of the show; they built a long, furiously groovy and explosive jam that seemed to go on for just a bit too long – and then some sort of equipment malfunction or plain old power outage ended proceedings abruptly and forced Kenneth to end it all with an awkward flourish. There was the inevitable applause and the guys seemed to be done with it when they apparently regained control of the power outlets after a minute and picked up at the exact same spot with undiminished fervour. The groove dissolved into a noise fest towards the end in what sounded very much like vintage Deathprod. Cool stuff, but it went on for just a little too long for my liking. Others in the crowd seemed very much into it, so I guess opinions vary.
After taking their bows and walking off they came back onstage and provided another show highlight as the closer. Having just played their asses off I guess they must have been mighty tired, so the encore was a very slow, melodic jam over some simple chord changes. Arve Henriksen had plenty of space for some of his exellent, breathy trumpet playing, and he also did some very nice wordless singing during the finale. Easily the most beautiful piece of music created this evening, and definitely a fitting ending to the show. After this, even though the crowd (and I!) seemed up for more, the house lights went up and it was all over. All in all, a great concert, with plenty of highlights and some (maybe inevitable) draggy bits.
I was positioned in the middle of the room, center stage. With (super cheapo) earbuds the sound was close to perfect – lots of bottom end and nice, clear high end. I took the buds out for comparison at one point, and quickly decided to stick with them for the rest of the show. Always wear protection, as I learned from an Iggy Pop show (another story for another time).
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Tentative set list (from memory, so it’s a little scetchy):
1 Jam >
2 Jam > LLM (Hallucifuge) >
2 Jam > The Getaway Special >
3 Jam > The Bomb-Proof Roll and Beyond
4 Groovy, explosive jam with sound dropouts
5 Slow, beautiful encore jam
Very nice review, though I always cringe when reviewers get their facts wrong:
“(…) it’s also easy enough to pick out the rivulets of Sun Ra and John Coltrane that run through the channel. Nowhere is this clearer than on ‘The Bomb-proof Roll and Beyond’ which features Mathias Eick’s (Jaga Jazzist) trumpet (…)”
…except the trumpet is actually featured on X-3 / The Getaway Special? Or am I missing something?
@supernaut: You’re definitely right about the odd meters. Seems the band shares your enthusiasm for the 7/4 groove, too – it’s featured in three and a half songs;
– The funky X-3 jam
– The Bomb-Proof Roll and Beyond is 7/4 most of the way through
– Gullible’s Travails jam (Part 3?)
– The W.B.A.T main riff is either a 15 or an alternating 7 and 8, depending on your inclination.
I’m loving the album so far – it’s been on heavy rotation on mp3-player and stereo alike now, and as usual they’ve included lots of little details for us active listeners.
W.B.A.T flows like a 1973 Black Sabbath song (the main riff closely resembles A National Acrobat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guFHGUEScwg). The way the guitar doubles up on the riff before the solo – indeed, the last part of the solo itself sounds A LOT like Iommi and Sabbath.
Also, has anyone else noticed how the female voices towards the end of X-3 sounds like a hommage to the choirs in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imbxqv_5TJU
Before the release, when the tracklist was revealed and some of the preview articles were posted I was surprised to se Close Your Eyes cut down to such a short length. But I think it provides a nice – and necessary – breather between the otherwise more excessive material on the record.
Besides, I think we can safely assume that they will stretch it out a bit more live.
Ran it through Babelfish:
” So ne Obstschale is already which fine. And healthy still to it. Perhaps also one of the reasons, why Motorpsycho are meanwhile for 20 years on the stages of the world on the way and submit with “Heavy Metal Fruit†their, meanwhile 15ten, Longplayer. The Skandinavier is not us however by any means weary and inspires since eh and ever with your multicolored skirt potpourri. That does not behave also on “Heavy Metal Fruit†differently. One hour finest skirt maintenance, distributed on straight once six of song, requires some at attention of the listener. One also provokes these, already the Opener leaves sudden after long sound off Intro, the bass free run. A episches Bombastrockmonstrum clears schreddernd its way, in order to drive just as suddenly again the speed down and become proglastig. On the gas only “X-3 Knuckleheads remains constant in space/The Getaway Specialâ€Â. Its dengelnde guitars on a schnaubenden bass run only the correct 70ies Rockrefrainwelle are waiting, on which it is worth to ride itself. Also “The Bomb Proof remains – roll and Beyond†faithful to this sound. Provides however with psychedelic inserts for clearly consciousness-extending nuances, which makes the weak Ballade “CLOSE also more easily forgotten your eyesâ€Â. The drum inferno “W.B.A.T†is not anything as distorted Gespratzel and leads directly to the zwanzigminütigen Epos “Gullibles Travails (Pt I – IV)â€Â, which is able to drive the arising boredom out with improvising Jameinlagen always in time. As variedly as the domestic Obstschale Motorpsycho bring your vitamins under the people, even if in the meantime something drop fruit hat.” itself also in-crept;
My nominee for sentence of the year: “One hour finest skirt maintenance”.
