Godwaffle Noise Pancakes 4/25
By Stephen McMullin
So much for regular. Arrant nonsense, errant foolishness and ample confusion mean the month of March’s Noise Pancakes went unblogged. Suffice to say, it was packed with loud noise, there were syrup-slathered pancakes and a plenitude of costumed japes – not to mention the oh-holy-jebus-what-was-that-ness of Electronic Puppenhorten’s Thong Armed Krakenmoths-Jejune-Plug Slubs. Words do it no justice, see the videos for evidence of this most unusual event.
April’s instalment of everyone’s favourite hangover cure/exacerbator (no sniggering at the back!) was fraught with delay and difficulty as three acts got caught in traffic and one took avant-garde minimalism to new heights by not showing up at all. (John Cage eat yr heart out.) The performances themselves were of the usual variety and quality, running the full gamut of the experimental noise genre.
First up was Julia Mazawa, whose distinctly minimal set up of a tiny mic’d-up sewing machine and a lone pedal, brought forth a flurry of noiseous sounds of rhythmic and abstract varieties. Unanticipated and very, very cool.
Next was duo Virus Kitten, whose frenzied drums’n’screams were augmented by noise manipulations pulled out of a harp. Harsh, frenetic and jaw-droppingly intense. More please!
Basshaters took the floor next to deliver an acoustic-noise ponderland, combining double bass molestations and innovative use of some of a drum kit. A longer performance would have been extremely welcome.
After what seemed like years, but was actually only about 45-mins, the remaining three acts arrived. Fortunately The Lab attracts a polite sort of crowd, so the restless chanting was kept to a minimum – the free tea probably helped.
Cotton Museum quickly arranged his dizzying array of pedals, samplers and techno-wotsits and treated us to a heady blend of the harsh and the hypnotic. Nobs were expertly twiddled and ears rang. And rang. And continue to ring.
A sudden change of gear, next, as KROB delivered an audio-visual treat involving that most infamous of sweaty-lipped former-presidents Tricky Nixon. Hilarious and sinister in equal measure.
Finally, the Italian Jooklo Duo rounded out the morning with a blast (and I mean A Blast!) of drum’n’sax free jazz that threatened to blister the paint off The Lab’s newly minted floor. This is not kidstuff, nor is it for the fainthearted.
Photos and videos on the day were taken using only an ancient cellphone, so apologies for the sub-lo-fi quality. Perhaps will remind those who didn’t attend that the best way to experience Noise Pancakes is to get the hell out of bed and be there in the flesh.
Yeah, that’s you told.