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| Sumac |
Wait, is it already April again? Nope. And it wasn't even the plan to go to Tilburg. The plan was to visit a one-night festival in Nijmegen on Saturday - and then find a couple of interesting shows around it. Those could have been anywhere between there and home... Ruhrpott, Münster, Hannover... but somehow I ended up choosing something exciting in Roadburn City on Friday. And then later something else on Thursday there too. And that's this one. (Reviews for the rest of the trip following later obviously.)
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| the annual mandatory tourist picture |
Even though I've been in town for eight festivals and one Transatlantic show in the 013 before, I've somehow never made it to Tilburg's cult club location called Little Devil, despite it even participating at Roadburn with a couple of shows. But it just had always been too far off the other locations to include it in my schedule. What a nice opportunity to make up for it!
The bar really doubles and triples down on the devil theme - and it is indeed quite tiny. The stage is at least so small that parts of the drumkit had to be put aside, so the musicians were able to get through the backstage entrance. And the support artist hadn't even put up his effect pedals on stage but in front of it.
The bar really doubles and triples down on the devil theme - and it is indeed quite tiny. The stage is at least so small that parts of the drumkit had to be put aside, so the musicians were able to get through the backstage entrance. And the support artist hadn't even put up his effect pedals on stage but in front of it.
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| PATRICK SHIROISHI |
I love these kinds of coincidences. The Japanese-American saxophone player Patrick Shiroishi is an artist I've only just gotten aware of through him being part of Roji and a fantastic collaborative record with their drummer Jörg Schneider (review coming soon...ish). And now he was suddenly opening for Sumac. Very nice - and inviting him is definitely a clear indicator for the wide open mindset of the headliner that embraces sludge and noise just as much as avant-garde and jazz.
Shiroishi's performance was based on loops and sound manipulation with him (de-)harmonizing with and shredding over that foundation. His tone was very versatile and even though there was an emphasis the daring, shrill and weird (there were a couple of noises I don't think I've actually heard on the instrument before), there were also glances into the grand and clean aspects of his style. Towards the end he also included some emotionally intense vocals in his wall of loops.
Looking past the sheer exotic nature of the performance in a rock context, this wasn't just random jamming, but had a storytelling purpose behind it. Not easy to fully grasp if you haven't heard the albums based on the history of Japanese internment camps in the US before, but very intriguing and inspiring nonetheless.
I also very much recommend picking up his albums "Descension" and "Hidemi" - great music, beautiful artwork and chef's kiss worthy pressings.
Shiroishi's performance was based on loops and sound manipulation with him (de-)harmonizing with and shredding over that foundation. His tone was very versatile and even though there was an emphasis the daring, shrill and weird (there were a couple of noises I don't think I've actually heard on the instrument before), there were also glances into the grand and clean aspects of his style. Towards the end he also included some emotionally intense vocals in his wall of loops.
Looking past the sheer exotic nature of the performance in a rock context, this wasn't just random jamming, but had a storytelling purpose behind it. Not easy to fully grasp if you haven't heard the albums based on the history of Japanese internment camps in the US before, but very intriguing and inspiring nonetheless.
I also very much recommend picking up his albums "Descension" and "Hidemi" - great music, beautiful artwork and chef's kiss worthy pressings.
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| SUMAC |
This was a much more intimate setting to experience Sumac than their Roadburn mainstage show with Casper Brötzmann in 2018. The trio around axe murderer and monstrous vocal chord strainer Aaron Turner and unique beat brutalizer Nick Yacyshyn also wasn't completed by Russian Circles bassist Brian Cook, but by Earth / Melvins veteran Joe Preston this time.
And if that wasn't enough to ensure a different show here tonight, there was of course also the setlist. Since I'm not completely familiar with their discography I would have assumed the majority of tracks being from their most recent regular album "May You be Held", when in fact they only played one of its mammoth tracks "Consumed". But given the non-traditional collage structure of their experimental noise metal compositions, the quantity of songs is downgraded to a minor matter anyway.
With the most notable exception of the minimalistic jazzy breakdown at the end of "Two Beasts" - including the use of brushed on the drums - Sumac were mostly enormously loud and brutal. And it doesn't contradict with the band also having super proggy arrangements around insanely creative rhythmic ideas, as well as the increasing tendency to embrace a potentially alienating, often almost non-musical artiness. Or to say it in other words: Man, these guys are the shit! It's just awesome how their stuff demands and stimulates a certain intellect, yet mercilessly bashes your brain and body in one motion. Experimental sludge ecstasy!
After the show I updated my album count from two to four. Especially their freshly released third collaboration with Keiji Haino is something extraordinary again. Review coming whenever the f... I'll find time to do it. Which is definitely at least after two more live reviews from the Netherlands.
And if that wasn't enough to ensure a different show here tonight, there was of course also the setlist. Since I'm not completely familiar with their discography I would have assumed the majority of tracks being from their most recent regular album "May You be Held", when in fact they only played one of its mammoth tracks "Consumed". But given the non-traditional collage structure of their experimental noise metal compositions, the quantity of songs is downgraded to a minor matter anyway.
With the most notable exception of the minimalistic jazzy breakdown at the end of "Two Beasts" - including the use of brushed on the drums - Sumac were mostly enormously loud and brutal. And it doesn't contradict with the band also having super proggy arrangements around insanely creative rhythmic ideas, as well as the increasing tendency to embrace a potentially alienating, often almost non-musical artiness. Or to say it in other words: Man, these guys are the shit! It's just awesome how their stuff demands and stimulates a certain intellect, yet mercilessly bashes your brain and body in one motion. Experimental sludge ecstasy!
After the show I updated my album count from two to four. Especially their freshly released third collaboration with Keiji Haino is something extraordinary again. Review coming whenever the f... I'll find time to do it. Which is definitely at least after two more live reviews from the Netherlands.
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