Charlemagne Palestine, minimalist contemporary of Steve Reich, Terry Riley and LaMonte Young - that's all I know about him, those dropped names - performed last night as part of the Suoni per il Popolo fest at the gorgeous Église Saint Jean Baptiste. He began by running his finger around the rim of a glass of cognac and singing ominously, comically to its ring, slowly pacing the cathedral, finally arriving at the pipe organ in the back balcony. He continued his drone in the same key on it, playing with phasing, overtones, undertones, octaves, repetition and especially the reaction of the huge echoic space with the instrument. Gradually, Palestine began to stray from the piece's base drone and toyed with melody (which we sometimes fumbled upon) and dissonance. Probably the most impactful, if not the most intriguing moment of the performance was when he explored the noise capable of the church organ. Rumbles and thunder of deep strident sound reverberated throughout and shook the building, while overtones of pure white noise (a really amazing and unexpected effect) washed it all under and away. He completed his set stirring his cognac and chanting again to it.

By no means a ground-breaking performance, nor particularly masterful, but a privilege nonetheless to listen to a reputed minimalist play such a massive instrument in a majestic space in an unconventional way. It was awe-inspiring.

I would get off on this.

Reminds me of a show (event? Happening?) at the Schindler House in L.A. (a Japanese-esque house designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's students which is now a museum)--a couple of musicians on the roof were mixing drones through a myriad speakers scattered around the house and grounds while others at ground level improvised on cello, flutes and sax. And it looked like this:



Oh, and there was a woman in a bag.

This sounds like amazingly pretentious bullshit. I'd go to make fun of other people who were there.


Lump, could you take the woman home in the bag?

Well, the woman in the bag, yes (note the stuffed cat in its own bag nearby). Otherwise, it was a nice soundbath for wandering around or lying on the grass staring at the clouds.

I likes drones.