Thurston Moore & London Sinfonietta @White Cube, London.
★★★★☆
08.02.15
Alejandro De Luna
“His solo exhibition [Christian Marclay] at White Cube Bermondsey includes a new video installation entitled Pub Crawl (2014), in which Marclay coaxes sound from the empty glasses, bottles and cans that he finds abandoned on the streets of East London during early morning walks. In a series of projections that run the length of the gallery’s corridor, these discarded vessels are hit, rolled and crushed, forming a lively sound track that echoes throughout the space.” [londonsinfonietta.org.uk]
Thurston Moore is one of those musicians who treat a guitar like an appliance of primitive and unconventional noise. For Sonic Youth´s former frontman, a guitar is not an instrument that plays ordinary pieces and melodic structures coming out of well-studied pentagrams. For the legend of the American underground, this machine is a device that explores the unlimited possibilities of the drone, feedback and distortion. With the guidance of Moore´s sensitivity, and the support of pedals and even drum sticks hitting the body of the guitar, the performance at the White Cube in South East London becomes an unconventional experience full of cinematic passages.
A guitar resonating and being tapped by wooden drum sticks. Strident feedback. The plucking of strings on his Fender behind the bridge and above the neck of a guitar with a psychedelic strap that states “Rebellion of Joy”, while the London Sinfonietta – a four ensemble of classically trained musicians composed by violin, cello, clarinet and percussion joins the avant-garde-like and experimental delight of Moore´s cinematic trip. A sonic journey that offers a proper soundtrack of noise to Christian Marclay´s video installations at the White Cube.
To see him performing live in such a unique show reminds me of a kid´s curiosity discovering a new toy, but with the slight difference that Moore has been playing with this weapon for the last 35 years, and that, unlike the kid, he knows exactly what he´s doing even if he´s still inspecting these raucous toys.
Just 30 mins of noise while The Vinyl Factory recorded the rare and unique performance for later pressing this piece of drone onto 500 copies of vinyl to be released next week.
This was not another episode of London´s east side pretentious nonsense. Thurston Moore can do whatever he pleases and we´ll still be there.
