I attended the Conversations at the Edge / Sight & Sound: Flingco Sound System event last night at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Interesting stuff all around but I was utterly blown away by what Lisa and Haptic presented. Of course, it was nice to watch one of Lisa's video pieces unfold when I was not in the middle of muddling through some guitar and synth work, myself. And my simmering jealousy of Haptic stealing Noise Crush away from The Fortieth Day was at least partially soothed by Lisa's use of human beings throughout much of her program. Her signature style and feel were there, but it was quite different, overall, as it was not primarily abstract. But it was definitely a beautiful and melancholy presentation, projected on a really large screen, as deserved. And she was actually performing under her own name, after all. Haptic built a much more complex soundscape than on their recent BloodLust! cassette, and their sound really locked in nicely with the video. They showed great restraint, whether with electronic frequencies or the bass-enhancing percussion -- lending a still-minimal feel to their set, even if there were several layers of sound happening. And at the right moment, there were some glorious feedback-esque pure frequencies that probably jolted people back to attention, were they drifting off due to the mesmerizing video and sound. A nice full house turned out for this and it was good to see some familiar faces...
I am really looking forward to listening to the new Haptic LP - "The Medium" - and watching Lisa's DVD, later today - as Isidro and I missed their performance from June 2007, because we were flying back from Mexico City that day. Maybe another Fugue State festival should happen???
