Blixa Bargeld
9 out of 10 - Simply Amazing. Can't wait to see 'em again.
Friday, January 27, 2006
The Echo Lounge in Los Angeles, CA
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Photo © Clovis IV
The Los Angeles leg of the North American festival tour titled “How To Destroy The Universe, Part 5” headlined with Blixa Bargeld, lead singer of the group Einsturzende Neubauten, and also included the Experimental Industrial band Savage Republic. The concert featured a rare one man performance by Blixa Bargeld and was the only leg of the tour that involved the reformation of Savage Republic. The show was packed, filled to the brim with L.A. scenesters, punks, and art types. It was definitely the show to be at that night.
Savage Republic took to the stage first, opening with “Mobilization” and following with “Jamahiriya”, which in classic Savage Republic style uses a driving bass line, tribal drums, and clanging percussion to transfix the audience. At the front of the stage was a single drum with a large metal coil resting on top, adding metallic layers of percussive noise as it was pummeled. The band’s set included two new songs and announced that a new album would be released later this year. Savage Republic ended with their high energy classic “Procession”, a primal, symphonic noise experience, featuring lyrics and anthem of the tour “forces of oppression…the danger lies within”.
The audience noise cut to a hush as Blixa Bargeld took to the stage, as he began to explain the nature of his performance, and that he uses only his voice, foot pedals, and a simple loop machine to create vocal soundscapes. One of the most memorable pieces was the universe, in which Blixa started by sampling audience mummers as background radiation, as he softly spoke the name of each celestial body. His words quickly began to loop over one another, creating a beautiful audioscape of our solar system, and ending with him screaming in piercing octaves to create comets flying through the universe. Blixa’s last piece was a vocal illustration of himself driving down the Autobahn in Germany, listening to crap German house music. It was amazingly funny and perfectly executed as Blixa recreated dance beats, female vocalists wailing, and the relentless clip of the asphalt. As he quickly exited the stage, the crowd filtered out in a daze, bewitched and amused by the vocal feats of Blixa Bargeld, stunned by what a riveting and intense performer can accomplish using only the simplest of technology.
Blixa Bargeld - www.blixa-bargeld.com
Savage Republic - www.mobilization.com
Photo © Clovis IV
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