Ulrich Schnauss, SoundPool, Hypatia Lake, Sunset Tavern 10/12/10
Ulrich Schnauss has a big 4AD woody... that much is clear from his albums. I love the auld 4AD stuff as much as anyone, but (a) not sure the world needs another Cocteau Twin and (b) not sure I want to stand in a club and hear rehashed Cocteau riffs.
Thankfully, Ulrich Schnauss did none of that: His set was a very intelligent DJ mashup of his tracks and some older treasures (including an old MixMaster Morris/Orb track), done seamlessly and done well. He sounds more like a mix of The Orb and William Orbit than Cocteau Twins, which suited me nicely.
My friend Dave Peck had a recent post about performance in the age of digital abundance, and this show was a good case in point: It's a guy with a laptop and keyboard on stage, and he looks rather like an accountant. I assume Schnauss is well-aware of this, so he shows home movie-style videos of different cities on a big background screen as he performs. Visually this is not so interesting, so I planted near the front of the stage where I could feel the bass in my sinuses and closed my eyes.
The effect was very nice. Schnauss is great at creating these very dramatic and soaring soundscapes, occasionally ambient then transitioning to deep-down techno grooves. It's kind of like seeing The Orb live, except he's a more talented DJ and less of a smart-ass. Unfortunately Schnauss' recorded material doesn't really reflect the vitality of his live mixes... would love to find some of those.
The warmup acts were mixed: Hypatia Lake was My Bloody Awful, and waaay too loud... driving punters out into the street in front of the club. I was the only one without earplugs who stayed, I think, and I'm sorry for that. Note to HL: Bullshitting your way through a set through noise and volume doesn't fool anyone. They're pointless, really.
Soundpool on the other hand were quite decent, even though they were 3/5ths of their normal band, and apologized profusely. But I liked them.
So besides the ringing in my ears today, mostly a very enjoyable experience, topped off by a nice walk through 'Old Ballard' to my car after the show, and bed.
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