hooves on the turf

I’m not much of a listener when it comes to minimal ambient music, but I went with a friend who adores Stars of the Lid, and it was easy to see what draws people to this genre, and especially to a band like this.

First of all, it was a beautiful setup at Le Poisson Rouge, as Wordless Music Series shows usually are, and Hammock, who I found even more minimal, opened with a perfectly complementary set–their music, in fact, was only an accompaniment to the video collage that served as a central piece on the stage, and which set the mood for their set: that is, I felt like the video molded the perception of the music, instead of it being the other way round. In between these two bands, classical pianist Jocelyn Bonadio played a few quiet songs by Bach, Shostakovich, and John Cage, and the experience of seeing these three acts together summed up for me what this sort of musical language does: in uttering the alphabets of music and holding on to each letter while you soak it in, unobstructed by verbal language or the more complicated structure of sentences and rhymes, it basically massages your musical sensibilities; it makes you better prepared to respond to things emotionally; it helps you open up and act like a reservoir for the musical language itself to fill you up. The music of Stars of the Lid definitely had more structure, and they played with a fantastic string quartet, but it’s no wonder that when they said, “This is our hit song”, a wave of laughter filled the room; because that statement makes no sense, given the nature of their music.

Hammock:

Jocelyn Bonadio:

Websites: Hammock, Stars of the Lid

Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
Nov 21, 2008