REVIEW
----Stupid Robot happened last night and this morning. About 120 people came out for the PETA benefit which featured: DJ's Crasta, Andrew Eisenberg, Chuck Van Zyl, Argo, me (dj spaceling), and Mr_Roper, as well as live performances by Flowchart, Charles Cohan, and Laris & Jack. ----I was pretty surprised how successful it was considering our budget limits ($50) for fliers. Credit for the success and existence of the event should definitely be given to MR_Roper who provided the space and Andy who provided the beautiful sound system. Alot of people I talked to had heard about it via internet posts in listserves (thanks for spreading the word). ----Chuck van Zyl opened at 9PM (he still had to do his ambient radio show "Star's End" later in the evening). Zyl played old and new school ambient, his arrangement was beautiful; I only wish the hipster's had come at 9PM to hear him rather than be fashionably late as it were. ----People started heading in en masse during DJ Argo's set. Argo was a challenge to my patience playing abstract hip hop, beaty non-ambient much more dancey than I would have liked, not what I expected at Stupid Robot. Some of the hipsters were into it though, others were bored. Methinks that especially in Philly, the avenues of ambient creative expression are so limited that the other electronica/spinster genres can wait at the door at a chill party. ----Thankfully, the set was over and Laris and Jack came on. Three men two on loops, chimey weeble wobbles and a varity of children's synthesizers, one man on guitar. I was full of wonder when Charles Cohan sat down at his analog synth and began to play with them, the music became all the more intense. After LAris and Jack, Charles continued his set. When I asked him if he had recorded anything he relpied he wasn't interested in product. I remembered what Hakim Bey said about the "introduction of capital always alienating the artist" in his essay on immediatism. So you should all someday make your way to Philadelphia to hear him. ----Flowchart had told me before their set that they don't play well live but this was obviously not the case last night. Synths, electric organs, a disposable turntable, loops and sundry other electronica helped in creating their magic. I have difficulty describing what I have no referent points to. If I said there music was beutiful, it means as much as being showered with pixie dust, their terra incognita hidden. ----Crasta spun out from there and played the ambient so many DJ's at 611 have shied away from due to its non-dancey qualities. A mix of the orb and aphex twin with old school remixes to garnish. Andrew Eisenberg supplied the trance, at times dancey, which was ok because every chill out party needs a small techno room : ) ----After which I mixed. I'll tell you what: it is quite a pleasure to spin for folk outside the radio studio and I'd like to do it more often. I began with a Realistic Stereo Test record from the 60s and then plattered Neil Armstrong's Journey to the moon. Dr Atmo and Namlook's Escape went on next as well as Carlos' Sonic Seasonings, Flowchart's Tenjira, Winnie the Pooh in A House at Pooh Corner, and other sundry records. MR_Roper gave me the tag and spun out into Ambient Jungle with intrusions by Psychic TV. ----What a night. My hope is to do another asap to keep momentum in the space scene here. My dream is make Phialdelphia a mecca for space/experimental electronica/ambient bands and have huge three day space festivals. For those clubbers (DJ's and promoters) who have the chutzpah to speak in prejudice that chill can't bring out the kids, here is some proof of their lie. Viva la Ambient!!! Aharon N. Varady (spaceling) |
January 1998: Stupid Robot
This turned out to be a great event. Lots of people came out end everyone lived happily ever after. We were able to make a $540 donation to P.E.T.A. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), which is- in my mind- nothing short of fantastic! Here's Proof. The back of the flyer read: Audio Spectrum Manipulation
By...
Additional Information...
|