'this is the way we used to do it' / the tedious do-gooding of the beautiful

grey morning. horsemouth supposes it is good for the plants.

horsemouth is back from seeing charlemagne palestine play at the barbican as part of the station to station 30 day 'happening' (together with a dude with a HUGE vintage moog to make drones on).

 'this is the way we used to do it' says charlemagne of the happening (this is what the audience want to hear) and of the avant garde 'happenings' (with edwin pouncey 'savage pencil' illustrating away next door) in his pre-concert talks. but it isn't, it's much slicker, with a much higher budget, and a purpose. when he isn't playing multiple HD projectors present and immersive film of the station-to-station happening and its imaginary train journey across the world (not just across america). there is gig footage of the inspired and inspiring and interviews with near permaculture-ists and smart people thinking deeply. beck (and gospel choir) ladies and gentlemen, patti smith, the dude from sonic youth... it is the tedious do-gooding of the beautiful (in HD).

that said horsemouth has to admit he really enjoyed the charlemagne palestine bits (and will probably go back for some other things).

there were 3 sets 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6.

set1 (1-2pm) - with len lye's tusaluva animated film.

it always begins small and gets bigger (and sometimes comes back down again) a young man with downs syndrome or some kind of autism appeared to get it best shaking his head vigrously and circularly at the great moment and huge subs coming from the moog. at maximum intensity charlemagne begins to play child's glockenspeils generating something between a snowstorm and a horror movie seemingly accelerating up into the heavens.

set2 (3-4pm) - requiem for the pets.

charlemagne shows some slowed down film of himself at a pet graveyard in france as he cavorts with two cuddly toys - he jumps, he rages, he howls with grief. initially it isn't clear what kind of graveyard it is - certainly not from the inscriptions - it is only when one looks closely at the photos on the headstones that one realises.

set3 (5-6pm) - coney island puppet show. slipping fading footage of a rollercoaster ride at coney island but first a canon and fugue sung by two cuddly toys. horsemouth thinks that it may work like this either the toys sing a set tune in which case if one is one note ahead the various effects result from that - similarly if the toys 'step' through a tune as pressed then those harmonisation effects can be achieved. and then back to the familiar organ drone to moog drone sturm und drang. it ends with the cuddly toys again, the canon and fugue and a 'goodbye'.

of the other art on display horsemouth took in olafur elaisson's 2013 connecting cross country with a line and a showing in a red gazebo of kenneth anger's invocation of my demon brother and lucifer rising (with the bobby beausoleil soundtrack). he liked the red pentagram seating and the fact that there's still something disreputable about kenneth anger's work. (mostly the satanism - horsemouth is a little sensitive to such stuff at the moment having watched both the devil rides out and to the devil a daughter recently). like much art the event appears to be favoured not just by the young and the beautiful but also by middle class parents (various degrees of beauty and well-dressedness) as somewhere safe to take their toddlers on a sunday - the anger had the advantage that the young would wander in and their parents would drag them out in terror.