When one thinks of a nightcap, images of a soothing alcohol-based beverage not long before bedtime come to mind. Or, for those born before 20th-century heating, perhaps a garment worn on the head during cold nights. It could even be extended to some late night music to help wind down the soul after a crowded daylight. Whatever the origin, calm & slow & warming are the main ingredients. Thus, I was especially curious for the experience I would thrust myself into for a late Sunday night live set by the esteemed Danish electronic music composer / production artist Anders Trentemøller (also Wikipedia).
It is generally known that live shows at well-traversed clubs small & large in big cities tend to begin late and end early. And if there is more than the main act on the bill, said main act won't make an appearance until well after the crowd has arrived and many nightcaps have been had. And the stroke of midnight into the next day will have come and gone once you hit the pavement again. Such was the case recently at the atmospheric Mezzanine in San Francisco, home to an eclectic assortment of live performances clearly curated for the under 40 set, maybe even under 30. But concert demographics can be a confuzzling stat. I usually find that there is no norm and am wary of applying generalities to music lovers, fans and fun-seekers.
No norm himself, Trentemøller had been going at it as an indie musician & DJ artist for several years before letting his cat out of the bag internationally in 2006 with his wonderful electronic moody debut The Last Resort. Along with several re-mix projects, two more full-length albums have followed, Into The Great Wide Yonder (2010) and this last September's Lost. Each showcases a musician and production artist reaching forward with experimentation, no doubt crafting into the late night and pre-dawn hours. His pace of new releases amidst his own musical change is just about right, for me anyway. Any sooner to market, and my listener's cup would still be running over from the last collection. (I still have yet to grab his latest.) I caught him live once before at San Francisco's famed & historic The Fillmore in the fall of 2011, and after thoroughly absorbing the energy and sonic attack of his set, knew I had to dive in again. Although one might easily assume that an electronic artist like this would prefer producing tunes in the safe confines of a controlled studio only to turn out the lights and leave well enough alone, turns out Trentemøller loves touring and performing with his live co-ed band. The man in the hat is clearly front & center at his controls (a mix of stacked keyboards, midi-galore gear, samplers & programs & a cymbal, oh my!) but closely flanked by an important very live drum kit, scratchy and colorful if sporadic electric guitar, thumping bass and another bloke trading turns on various strings and inanimate objects. And it works! While experiencing his recordings don't always call for imagining a band, these same tunes sit very well on a stage with actual humans. As of press time, after the effective onslaught has faded and the mostly instrumental tunes have melted into an eventual night's sleep, it is difficult to describe the music and flow. Part deep-thump of groove, part moody psychedelia ambience, part soft clouds of thrash among other things. It would be much easier to have attempted this writing during the set, noting as many nuances and electrons as possible. But there was just no way. Club visits like this with an electronica music edge coupled with squishing bodies, wild eyes and over-filled ears allow for no further multi-tasking. And there's something freeing about this type of live performance - all that's truly required is to sit in and stand with it all, with no mind to what songs or this or that, instead welcoming a stream of consciousness zone to float in. This is all that Trentemøller expects and what we should expect of him. Most of us stood in the club for about 4 hours straight (there was an opener and the endless wait for it all), feet moving in spits and starts for moments in time, bodies buzzing, sonic immersion delights and challenges.
(I plan to re-tread the main floor and upper bar view of the Mezzanine path in May when another of my under-the-radar electronic favorites appears like out of thin air - Pantha du Prince. And I'll be a few days (or another year) older by then, as if that should matter. Listen to the videos on that page for a wonderful excursion.)
As usual, music samples can be found below, but note that each of his 3 albums are best heard, ahem...experienced, in their sequenced entirety.
Thanks for listening and don't forget to turn the lights out before you press play...
Aurally yours,
david
david@musicelectrons.net
Notable links and tune-age*:
- Anders Trentemøller website
- Trentemøller discography and related
- Take Me Into Your Skin from The Last Resort (nice shift at :25)
- Evil Dub & Miss You from same, classic Trentemøller polar opposites
- Always Something Better (Vocal Version) from same (Moby-tinged)
- Shades of Marble & Sycamore Feeling from Into The Great Wide Yonder
- ...Even Though You're With Another Girl & Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!! from same
- Still On Fire, Candy Tongue & Hazed from Lost
*prepare to test your system's (or paltry ear buds') bass frequency!
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