German artist Pantha Du Prince has carved out a unique niche for himself as a forward thinking purveyor of minimal electronic dance music that manages to pay equal attention to experimentations as the groove. His Elements of Light album from earlier this year despite keeping this similar recipe, felt like an abrupt left turn, as suddenly he’d taken his head out from behind the computer screen and started jamming with a bunch of blokes from Oslo…with bells.
The stage set up as we wander into the recital centre is pretty amazing in itself, there are gongs, chimes, bells, metal bowls and all manner of sound making odds and ends strewn across 6 separate work stations that feature two vibraphones, a drum kit and of course Pantha Due Prince on his electronics in the centre.
The room darkens and they walk out slowly, gently intoning hand bells in succession, lining up at the front of the stage. Though they look like hipster butchers in matching smocks, even from the outset the Bell Laboratory’ interplay is astounding as they provide plenty of space for each other, but never compete, each player seems to know innately when to play. They fall back into their respective workstations as Pantha Du Prince brings in a warm drone. Over the next half an hour they perform various configurations of tunes from Elements of Light. In the main the bottom end grooves and electronic flourishes are somewhat restrained, as Pantha Du Prince is more than happy to take a back seat to the amazing resonance of the bells and chimes. It’s truly hypnotic, this groups ability to use this classical instrumentation and inject them with the funk and euphoria of dance music in front of our eyes. It’s really peculiar watching them work away at their sounds, there’ something almost industrial about it, not as in the musical genre, but in the manufacturing sense, as they clang ding and pound out the rhythms and melody.
Eventually they pause, before wandering into the darkness surrounding the audience using the same bells from the beginning. This sound is incredibly calming, washing away the bluster and controlled chaos of the previous half an hour. In the darkness the sounds take on new meaning, like insects or frogs attempting to communicate with each other across a large space. When they finally fade into silence the applause is deafening and we’re all on our feet. The band quickly return to the stage and bow and it’s an amazing way to end a truly odd and inspiring show. Except it apparently isn’ the end, as the band continue to play for another 30 odd minutes.
But something has changed. Suddenly the electronics are a much larger presence in the mix. Where previously Pantha Du Prince was using discrete unobtrusive drones and minimal barely perceptible electrics, suddenly he’ upped the ante, and he’ wrestled back the focus. The bells and gongs and odds and sods are still there, but they’re now accompaniments. This is the most overtly electric and overtly dance music that we’ve had all night and a few people are dancing in the aisles. The live bells, relentless vibraphone, gong and kit really elevate Pantha’ pre recorded sounds, truly bringing it into the live arena. The interplay is electric, sometimes it gels, at others it’s a little off, but it feels live and of the now like electronic music struggles to be.
Whilst for the audience being seated did make you feel a little restrained, there was more than enough happening on a visual level wherever you looked, making it difficult not to marvel at the sheer audacity of the spectacle. If only all electronic music could be performed like this.
Bob Baker Fish
photo by Lucreccia Quintanilla
