[October 15th 2002]
Article

Mats Gustafsson, Thurston Moore and Jim O'Rourke.

Look at the Music / SeeSound
As part of the Kulturbro Biennale 2002 the Look at the music/SeeSound festival will be played out throughout the fall in the Øresund region. Text: Trine Friis Sørensen. Foto: Hans Permbo, Kulturbro

Look at the music/SeeSound - concerts and exhibitions
Ystad Teater, Ystad Konstmuseum, Neon Gallery Brösarp, Gallery Tjörnedalagården, Kabusa Konsthall, Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskilde.
Thurston Moore, Alan Licht, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Kim Gordon, Ikue Mori, DJ Olive, Peter Brötzmann, bob hund and many more.
28.9. - 15.12.2002
Museet for Samtidskunst
Stændertorvet 3D
4000 Roskilde
Telefon 46 36 88 74
info@samtidskunst.dk
www.samtidskunst.dk
Ystads konstmuseum
271 80 Ystad
Tlf.: 0046 (0)411-577285
konstmuseet@ystad.se
www.konstmuseet.ystad.se
Kulturbro-udstillinger på Ystad Kunstmuseum
Christian Marclay
Installation och videor
12.10 - 1.12 2002
Peter Brötzmann
Måleri och objekt
28.9 - 3.11 2002

From the end of September to the middle of December concerts, talks and exhibitions will take place at various galleries, museums and music venues on both sides of Øresund. The festival deals with two areas in contemporary experimental music: experimental rock/free jazz (Look at the music) and minimal electronic sound art (SeeSound) especially focusing on the genre called Electronic Listening Music (ELM).

On September 28 Look at the music started with an opening party at neon Gallery Brösarp and right now (October 5-14), the Look at the music concerts take place at Ystad Theatre, Ystad Art Museum and other venues in Sweden. Similar to the Kulturbro Biennale two years ago, the concerts include members of the American noise rock band Sonic Youth: Thurston Moore (guitar), Kim Gordon (guitar, vocal) and Jim O'Rourke (piano, electronics) together with other musicians from the experimenting rock and electronica scene in New York: Ikue Mori (drum machine/sampler set-up), Alan Licht (guitar) and DJ Olive (turntables). Also playing are Yoshimi (percussion, trumpet, vocal etc.), the Swedish band bob hund and free-jazz inspired musicians such as saxophonists Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Peter Brötzmann and others.

(left) Yoshimi. (right) Kim Gordon. 

Saturday afternoon (October 5) Thurston Moore and Yoshimi entered the stage at Ystad Theatre and played a set, which gradually worked its way in and out of Moore's noisy feedbacks and Yoshimi's intense vocal expression and subdued sounds. The sound intensity grew considerably when Moore placed a drum stick behind the strings on his guitar and from time to time tore the drum stick back and forth. Later the same day Jim O'Rourke, Ikue Mori, DJ Olive & Kim Gordon aka Kim Gordon Group played. Unlike the Moore/Yoshimi constellation Kim Gordon Group is not put together for this occasion, but is on regular basis playing at various experimental venues (in New York). Kim Gordon Group delivered a more structured performance than Moore/Yoshimi due to Gordon's vocal and a rhythmic puls implemented by DJ Olive and Ikue Mori. Gordon wrenched new sounds from her guitar using a record as a plectrum and placing a sweater on top of the guitar strings. High-pitched, pealing, trickling, hissing, jarring sounds combined with sampled dogs baying and from time to time Gordon's hoarse vocal exploding in a scream.

Ikue Mori with DJ Olive in the background

On Tuesday evening (October 8) Ystad Art Museum presented a concert hosted by Yoshimi and Jim O'Rourke and performed by Thurston Moore, Alan Licht, Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Kim Gordon, Ikue Mori and DJ Olive. As promised the first set was lead by Yoshimi, who gradually let the musicians work up a set that moved ahead in an almost dreamlike sonic pace, slowly fading as the musicians were pulled out of the set. The second set, however, turned out to be a common arrangement. An arrangement hosted by a whistle, which moved in between the musicians. Gustafsson opened the set and later handed the whistle to O'Rourke. Whistling and gesturing, O'Rourke directed the course and the musicians and later tossed the whistle on the floor. Moore picked it up, pointed out new constellations and whistled the musicians on in more or less free improvisation. After about 45 minutes and a number of different hosts, the whistled ended up with Moore, who with a clenched fist and a wry smile invited all the musicians to join him in a final wild cacophony. In this way the second set turned out as a common sound collage, where the whistle almost constituted a cut-up act combining and structuring the sound in innovative ways.

Tv: Fra venstre: Yoshimi, Alan Licht, Ken Vandermark, Mats Gustafson, Kim Gordon. Th: Alen Licht, Kim Gordon, Ken Vandermark.

The Look at the music concerts continued through Monday, October 14. Subsequently, the festival's electronica part, SeeSound, was launched in Roskilde with lectures and concerts. Until the middle of December a number of Look at the music exhibitions will take place at Ystad Art Museum, Neon Gallery Brösarp, Gallery Tjörnedalagården & Kabusa Konsthall featuring Peter Brötzmann, Anton Corbijn and others.

In connection with the festival Ystad Art Museum, Neon Gallery Brösarp and The Museum of contemporary Art in Roskilde have published the sound art anthology Look at the music/SeeSound. The anthology is available in both Danish/Swedish and English and can be purchased at the above mentioned locations.

Further information: www.kulturbro.com, www.konstmuseet.ystad.se & www.samtidskunst.dk