Real Quiet - Mechanically Separated Chicken Parts [mp3]
* This was not written in traditional such loud noise manner. Indeed, this is a simple concert review exhibiting fairly mainstream journalistic tendencies. Please excuse the total sense of logic, I will return to absurdity on Wednesday.
The 2009-2010 season of Southern Exposure opened with a spectacular performance by New York-based trio Real Quiet. The series is in its eighth year of bringing the bleeding edge of 20th-century classical music south to Columbia. This season touts as strong a schedule as ever and you can thank the artistic director of Southern Exposure for that. Guest composer Marc Mellits said of University of South Carolina School of Music professor John Fitz Rogers that it was “an honor to even be in the same room as John.” It is largely on the strength of Fitz Rogers standing in the 20th-century classical music scene that Southern Exposure is able to attract musicians of the caliber of Real Quiet. Performing a variety of compositions, including two by Mellits, cellist Felix Fan, percussionist Daivid Cossin and pianist Andrew Russo delighted the crowd with an aural cornucopia of music suggestive of something altogether the opposite of the trios moniker. Relying mostly on minimalist compositions (with a few chamber pieces sprinkled in for good measure), Real Quiet deftly showed their impressive musical skills and even managed to strum a couple downright groovy tunes.
The performance opened with three selections from the Marc Mellits composed “Tight Sweater.” Any concert goers feeling uncertain about a band with a name like Real Quiet were immediately satisfied by the loud, energetic notes Cossin banged out on the xylophone to start the first piece from “Tight Sweater,” a song called “Exposed Zipper.” From there, each of the three members fell quickly into character. Fan was left rapidly strumming and plucking alternately in a remarkably successful attempt to keep up with Cossin, his head whipping from left to right under the intoxication of the music. Russo entered the fray in dramatic, Schroeder-like fashion, his mouth agape and his entire body swaying with each stroke of the key. Turning the page on a particular sheet of music was accomplished in a variety of ways, but most often an almost-violent toss was employed. All three musicians showed a level of precision throughout the performance unseen in most contemporary music. Each note played exactly as prescribed and watching from below the stage, despite each artists intriguing physical quirks and ticks, one couldn’t help but stare at their hands as they played, so exact in their artistry.
The Mellits compositions dripped in minimalism reminiscent of Steve Reich. From there the trio proceeded to the Phil Kline composed “The Last Buffalo,” a piece inspired by the writings of Hunter S. Thompson. In the songs “Fear and Trembling” and “Loathing” a sense of Thompson’s writings was communicated effervescently and all manner of song making was employed as the artists began to show real signs of their experimentalist bent. You could practically hear some absurd argument between Raoul and Dr. Gonzo amidst the clamor and chaos Real Quiet were summoning. The first half of the concert was concluded with “Wild Pitch,” a composition written by Annie Gosfield and apparently inspired by the 2004 World Series. Given the drama of the piece, it seemed clear that it was more likely describing the events preceding the four-game World Series sweep of the Cardinals by the Red Sox. “Wild Pitch” also happened to be the climax of Real Quiet’s experimentation with Russo taking a mallet directly to his piano strings, Cossin scratching his drumstick across a cymbal and Fan doing all manner of unusual things to his cello, Real Quiet showed themselves capable of playing beautiful music in the most unconventional ways.
After the intermission, Russo performed solo the night’s most “entertaining” piece. The Jacob ter Veldhuis composed “The Body of your Dreams” is a piano solo with infomercial accompaniment. The piano is set to a tape loop featuring synthesizers, drum machines and snippets from an ad for a fitness system the purports to help you lose weight without even breaking a sweat. The product in question is a vibrating belt and the pitch from the endorser as well as the customer testimonials offer a hilarious contrast to the finely composed piece.
The final two compositions brought Real Quiet full circle to their roots as experimental minimalists. The Lou Harrison composed “Varied Trio” showcased tender melodies. The Asian-influenced tunes had a level of grace and beauty not heard in some of the other pieces and looking around at the crowd, most people were completely awe struck and transfixed by the music as if transported by each musical note to a utopia full of wonder. The drifting songs never ventured near contradiction or abrasion, tending instead to find tranquil harmony in the three musicians. The show closed with another Mellits composition, this one called “5 Quiet Machines.” This piece was designed, as the name would suggest, for five musicians but it’s a testament to Real Quiet’s skills that they were able to bring it to life with just three. As Mellits explained before the piece began, the idea with this composition is that it is performed by some sort of gigantic music machine and each of the instruments are a single part of that machine. To listen to the cello of Fan alone, for instance, would be totally useless because it would make no sense. Whether true or not, the composition was certainly a raucous finale as the trio worked overtime to replicate the electric guitar and bass sounds missing from the machine. For their efforts, the trio and Marc Mellits were rewarded with a standing ovation.
Real Quiet are a rhythm and blues band from New York City. The featured song is from the album Tight Sweater: Real Quiet Plays the Music of Marc Mellits . Purchase the music at Amazon | Insound | eMusic.
