Reviews

BOX #16 - 29 September 2002 - MoonPatrol - Philip Samartzis & Lawrence English

Review by Greg Jenkins

Fresh on the heels of fabrique, small black box 29/9/02 showed that Brisbane audiences can?t get enough of their live electronic music.

First up was Moon Patrol (Tony McDonald, Michael Leo). Their stage set up was like a timeline, as if some archaeologist had dug through the last 100 years of electronic music history and the walls of the pit were lined with a G4 computer, Akai sampler, DX7, Leslie cabinet and of course at the bottom of the excavation a beautiful example of a theremin.

Previous Moon Patrol gigs I?ve seen have taken a panoramic ambient approach and this set was no exception.  While there were numerous intimate components like the breathing Leslie cabinet which started proceedings, other elements such as the theremin and various samples lent a more detached, other worldly sound to the music.

Their set drifted from one environment to another, occupying the vague region between consciousness and beyond.  Nice use of dynamics punctuated the drones and the use of a guitar amp in addition to the PA gave a (perhaps unintentional) expanded soundstage.  

The demented, distorted guitar quotation of the national anthem raised a chuckle from the audience - I for one wasn?t sure whether it was a tribute to Jimi Hendrix or a political point, along the same lines of Kettle?s now infamous recital at the height of the refugee crisis.  Either way, an enjoyable set.  

From the sweepingly detached to the almost uncomfortably personal, Lawrence English and Philip Samartzis played us the noises we?re not supposed to hear.  I was looking forward to this set having missed Samartzis? set the night before at fabrique and it didn?t disappoint.  

Starting quietly, the occasional crackle and pop rose above the air conditioning rumble.  Slowly the two built up a nervous sounding conversation between various hums, buzzes, feedbacks and splats.  Concentrating on the mid to crackle range of the audible spectrum, the pair were in complete control of their audio domain, Samartzis, with his multiple symmetrically arranged CD players and Nord micro modular, English relying mainly on a turntable he seemed intent on destroying.  

The use of a turntable to do anything but replay records is something I?ve seen a bit of lately and as someone who?s done their fair share of repairing such gear I have to admit it makes me cringe to see such damage being inflicted willingly!  The noises that result however are fascinatingly intimate, almost painful in their honesty.  Michael Norris with his custom made heavy duty styli extracts similar sounds but there?s something about the torture of a record player, the subversion of the act that gives it that ?car crash? fascination.  

The set progressed beautifully, the pair opening up and slowly drawing us into their stochastic nest of sounds.  Samartzis? side of the stage was ordered, calculated, precise.  I got the impression that every sound was where he wanted it to be.  English was a brilliant foil to this, improvising destruction in and around Samartzis? tightly structured bed tracks.  

In all, a great evening and well supported.  Andrew Kettle in his leave of absence can be happy in the knowledge that his goal of establishing an audio art community has been well and truly achieved.

Greg Jenkins