Tag: Table of the Elements

RHYS CHATHAM – A CRIMSON GRAIL FOR 400 ELECTRIC GUITARS

OK, let’s start off with just the facts. This is a live album, clocking in at under an hour, documenting highlights of a 12-hour performance of 400 electric guitars directed by the composer Rhys Chatham. Interested? You should be.

This is not a colossal sonic bombast, this is the sound of 400 guitars shimmering an incandescent symphony of sighs and shadows. The acoustics of the basilica of Sacré-Coeur in Paris really lend themselves to such subtle, delicate music. If you want crude comparisons, then the best I could do would be to suggest the guitar sound of post-rock at it’s most beautiful meeting modern composition.

I had heard bad things about the sound quality of this album. Some people had complained bitterly about hearing other sounds such as microphone bumps or clips but I found only a very vibrant live recording that captured the sound and atmosphere of what must have been quite an extraordinary event.

Tony Conrad with Faust – Outside the Dream Syndicate Alive

It’s a bit like you are listening to an instrumental part of The Velvet Underground’s “Black Angel’s Death Song” when someone sneaks up behind you and shoots you in the back of the head. As the bullet tears through your brain, there is a sudden moment when your perception of time is destroyed and those last few moments of your life are somehow spun out into a bewildering hour. This is how the last moment of music would sound.

This is a live album. This is a live album wherein minimalist violinist Tony Conrad revisits his 1972 collaboration with Faust some 23 years later in London. What makes it all the more remarkable is this was only his third meeting with the band (the second being for another mid 90s concert). It’s just Conrad with Jean-Hervé and Zappi of Faust along with premier leftfieldist Jim O’Rourke.

Let’s not mince words: the original album had a startling power but is now pretty much rendered obsolete by the sheer blistering intensity of this harsh, live version. It has much more zest, more aggression, more impact. It somehow burns itself into your mind and leaves behind such an imprint, that you can still hear it playing once the CD has ended, much like the way a bright light leaves it’s mark on your eyes after it’s switched off.

To sum it up in 2 words: shit hot