Billed as a Festival of the Ecstatic, Supersense lived up to the name. Whether the ecstasy was drawn from bliss or burden, it was there from the moment you waded through the labyrinthine maze that led to the venues within the Arts Centre complex. Opening on Friday night you could marvel at the dreadlocked minimalism of Parvathy Baul, be beguiled by the oppressive musings of Ariel Pink and end up in a dream state of electronic drone with Manuel Göttsching.
The performer-audience interaction of Ariel Pink was magic. A disgruntled heckle of “You’re better than this,” was followed by the performer’s witty rejoinder, “I know”. Well Ariel, why keep it a secret? It took the youth of today to articulate the merits of the laissez faire approach of Pink best.
Come Saturday, Lydia Lunch blasted out the cobwebs with her expected vitriol and bravado. HTRK and Chunky Move did a slightly off-kilter music-dance collaboration, before Chris Abrahams performed his solo musings to set the mood for the expansive and perspective driven Discrete + Oblique: The Music Of Brian Eno.
It was a reinterpretation of the Eno masterpiece, Discreet Music, and the swirling diaspora of sound made for an interesting experience. Colossal strings mixed with jazz improvisation and electronic feedback stubbed into the ether, and then the cycle commenced again. It was a comprehensive and invigorating investigation into the creative path of Eno, split into quiet and loud pieces. All the while, the backdrop featured visions of the Oblique Strategies theme cards, introducing a cerebral element to the aural experience. It all finished with the question, “How would you have done it?” There was food for thought as the people dispersed into the night.
The festival culminated on Sunday, and on the seventh day the Lord rested and left things up to John Cale. The man straddles the permutations and combinations of sound and composition. Like a netherworld dandy, he broke out with Heartbreak Hotel and then traversed his rake like years with the Velvet Underground with Waiting For The Man and Venus In Furs. Lisa Gerrard assisting on a few songs in a completely bewitching and vixenish manner. Cale also reviewed a selection of his solo material from Gun to Gravel Drive. Some interesting images flashed around the auditorium, particularly the composition of death masks and an anorexic. It all concluded with Big White Cloud and everyone was most pleased with a festival that was both challenging and entirely rewarding.
BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
Photo by David Harris
Loved: A lot.
Hated: A little.
Drank: Time.
