GERÄUSCHWELTEN XXIV

Finally summer recess is over and I finally could hurl myself into the next GERAEUSCHWELT. The fall season starts with nonetheless than Z’EV and JOHN DUNCAN, the two American Industrial legends. First artist is based on focusing in combining various percussion instruments to its rhythmic approach for it is based on the number mysteries of the Kabala, while JOHN DUNCAN quite often scandalizes and polarizes particularly with his performances and artistic achievements. But however he knows how to create very intensive and disturbing soundscapes.
Both charismatic globetrotters now ended up in my lovely hometown Muenster for the very first time, each presenting brand new material…

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:. Z’EV ~ kicked off his performance on time and was firstly strolling with rattles around the table where Duncan had his equipment built up. Unbelievable, how many different tone nuances he could wear out just by lowest changes in movement. After this 8 minutes running journey the master trance-like sank down on his carpet between all his percussion instruments (wondering, what he was smoking all the time *g*), turning us his back, forgetting everything and everyone around and began with a timbal. Z’EV was afterwards working through two sheet metal boards, two gongs up to a tinny figure its shape reminded me on Spongebob, but revealed such a wide array of sound variations. Engulfed in the atmosphere I closed my eyes to find myself mentally taken to a small African tribal village where a shaman dispossesses or to heal with tribal tunes. After 45 minutes the performance abruptly ended and the audience was slowly taken out of the musical trance that finally woke them up.

:. JOHN DUNCAN ~ short after DUNCAN even reached a more intensive level his music was downright tiring on the body, heavy and even painful, stiffing arms and legs till the eyes felt close. The universe… wideband noises as if you were listening between the stars with the Very Large Array of NRAO, into the Eagle nebula M16 – a birthplace of stars and black holes; or listening to the communications between the space probs roaming the outer space. Working in my old power plant crosses my mind too, when huge engines start running, creating its charismatic sounds. Of course, one can also associate these noises with an interstellar starship ;) JOHN DUNCAN always again made it to build up an enormous tension, minimal driving his soundscapes into new directions, boosting them and breaking them up abruptly, bridging with subtle tunes and pushing forward into new levels of sound dimensions, which again ebbed away. Listening to his music is like riding an emotional roller coaster of feelings from his eerie 45-minute performance, which was lit by 3 candles twiddling casting intense ambiance.

It was again an exceptional event of experimental music initiating new thinking and musical approaches. Of course, both performances could have been doubled in time, since both artists have tons of material up their sleeves.