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“The weirdness flows between us”. This defining line pulled from the lyrics of a Dinosaur Jr song sheds light on the true meaning of the reviled and abused word “freak”. With this as our premise, we have taken the liberty of listing the artists appearing at FIB Heineken 2005 under the names of songs which, for one reason or another, describe their vibes.
This is the Festival’s first Freak Scene, and not just because of the massive number of freaks scheduled to perform this year, but also because of how easy it is group them by this criterion since wherever we place them, we know we’ll be right, because when it comes to tastes, there’s nothing written in stone. Whereas quite a bit has been written about freaks, all bad – the words seems to have become a sort of miscellaneous category in which anything fits. But, who are we to judge? Enough said. Here’s our selection:
While there’s no lack of freaks, we give the honour of belonging to our Freak Scene – with the permission of Tod Browning – to the parents of the creature known as Dinosaur Jr, the seminal band from Amherst led by J Mascis. The main characteristic that makes them absolutely different from almost everyone else is that Mascis – principal songwriter, lead guitar and vocals – has never tired of defending the brutal volume at which he plays the guitar, saying that it is nothing more than a way to protect himself from what he considers to be the aggression of the constant banging and hammering of the different elements that make up the drums. Of course, he’s not the only one who plays loud, but he is the only one who’s used this as an excuse.
The Polyphonic Spree is another group that belongs, in its own particular way, to the sub-world of singularity that we call “freakism”. Twenty-three members strong – all from Dallas, Texas – dressed in tunics the colours of which remind you of what might be the common denominator of the Beach Boys, Viva la Gente and the Langley Schools Music Project – and this assessment holds true both aesthetically and musically speaking. Above and beyond their musical merits, which they no doubt have, “The Beginning Stages of…” (Hollywood 2003) and “Together We’re Heavy” (Hollywood 2004) give them a privileged positioning in our agenda if only for the thrill of seeing their multihued tunics and hearing their divine voices live.
Daniel Johnston, – who is perhaps deserving of having this section dedicated exclusively to himself – is a key and unique personality in the recent history of pop music. Swayed by the enormous legacy of the Beatles and practically abducted by the Marvel Comics superhero Captain America, he has roamed, since the late 70s to today, through a world in which he has not been able to easily defend himself, due to the burden of his illnesses and the near-total lack of appreciations for his brand of talent by the recording industry. His generation, personified by luminaries of the alternative pop-music scene in the United States over the last few decades – people like Kaplan from Yo La Tengo, Mascis from Dinosaur Jr and Jad Fair from Half Japanese – has taken it upon itself to vindicate his work with unheard-of perseverance. Today, thanks to them and their unstoppable will, Johnston occupies a place in the world of music more along the lines of what he has always deserved. He is nothing if not unique.
Matthew Herbert has the rare virtue of being able to create unprecedented and unusual sound imageries. He makes his own brand of electronic music with the most unheard-of elements – and, to boot, with a powerful political awareness all his own. Kitchen utensils such as forks, beaters and rolling pins, eggs frying in a pan and the like are just some of the sound sources this versatile and multifaceted artist uses to create music that harshly criticises life conditioned by what is supposed to be normal. “Plat du Jour” (Magic and Accident, 2005) pries into the food chain that has led to junk food by way of a bizarre synthesis. Social criticism without any apparent verbal content? Could be – but this is precisely where the appeal lies of this Englishman who never bites his tongue to prevent himself from saying what he wants to – unless it’s to make a new sound.
Ernesto González/Aldo Linares
NEWS
Lunes, 12 de Mayo de 2008