Karl Hyde in PURE SCENIUS/LUMINOUS, Sydney Opera House.

[tinyman]

http://luminous.sydneyoperahouse.com/home.htm

what do dirts make of this? :confused:

[TheBang]

Looks cool. I was just at the Sydney Opera House 2 months ago. Great structure and great place to have it. Wish I could be there for this.

http://luminous.sydneyoperahouse.com/soh_luminous_mkit_single.pdf

June 14 - Pure Scenius in the Concert Hall, probably after 6 PM.

In residence at Sydney Opera House throughout luminous, Eno
will also be in conversation with artists and other guests as well
as working with collaborators, including Underworld poet Karl
Hyde, on the finale concert, Pure Scenius.
...
Luminous tickets to the general public go on sale
Saturday, March 21.

Pure Scenius is Brian Eno’s title for a
concert to mark the end of the first
Luminous festival at Sydney opera House.

Devised and produced by Eno whilst he is in residence in
Sydney, this distinctive one-off concert will be the surprise
result of a collaboration between a number of artists, some
of whom have appeared earlier in the Luminous program and
other special guests, including Karl Hyde, the poet and voice of
Underworld.

In the early 90s, along with band mates Rick Smith and Darren
Emerson, Hyde assimilated techno into the art-rock tradition,
lacing pulverising rhythms with frantic cut-up lyrics, eccentric
humour, subtle textures and waves of improvisation.

Why ‘pure scenius’? Eno describes this as ‘the creative
intelligence of a whole cultural scene’.

“My feeling is that culture is an ecology of ideas - and just as we
wouldn’t imagine a biological ecology where horses were seen
as ‘important’ and goats as ‘trivial’, nor should we do the same
thing with art. Such categorisations serve only to illuminate our
own prejudices and tastes, and often, our snobberies,” he says.

“The connections between one idea and those around it are
subtle and complex. i am unable to separate ‘my’ ideas from the
whole flow of ideas in the air around me.

Without a doubt some scenes are more creative than others -
think of Russia around the 1917 revolution, Berlin in the 20’s
and 30’s, London and San Francisco in the 60’s....all of those
were possessed of ‘scenius’ - fertile breeding grounds for new
cultural experiments.”

The full line up and scale of Pure Scenius will not be finalised
until May. This will be a one night only experience, unique to
Sydney Opera House.

Seats will be limited and in high demand.


Looks like Pure Scenius tickets aren't going on general sale, at least not yet. Karl, hook the Aussie dirts up!

[phaseblue]

Just from what I`ve quickly read, and I don`t know too much about this,
it seems to me that Karl shouldn`t be merely a guest, but rather he and
Tomato should be the master of ceremonies as this is right up their alley!

[industri_studios]

Wow - so Karl will collaborate with Eno? I hope they get the LHN crew involved to release whatever comes of THAT collaboration. Crazy.

[luminary]

This looks to be an awesome festival, and I have been thinking it was about time I visited Sydney again.

Some details on how we can get tickets to PURE SCENIUS would be helpful :)

[stauff]

Looks really interesting. I signed up for the newsletter anyway, hope they let me know when/where I can bag tickets.

[Bargo]

I'm really excited about this, am definitely going to have to bag some tickets. I know that The Necks (http://www.thenecks.com) are performing for the festival and I'm really, really hoping that there's some sort of Necks/Hyde collaboration thing during Scenius. It's extremely unlikely, but it would result in the collaboration between my two favorite musical artists and would be the most awesome thing ever. :o

(and I'm kinda hoping that Karl reads this and goes out to get one of their albums and check 'em out :) )

[Caprice]

i think i need to go to Australia and live for awhile.
but honestly, its about time Underworld begins to be recognized as a very influential group. I remember when I first got into Underworld, one of the things i love is the poetic and operatic words from Karl Hyde. He is easily my favorite lyricist and one of the only ones who i have heard that writes like that. And his vocal delivery should be used in the opera.

[TheBang]

The wait is over! PURE SCENIUS is now on sale. And as a LUMINOUS enews subscriber you have the chance to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public on Friday 8 May!

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/priority/purescenius.aspx

Prepare for PURE SCENIUS when the LUMINOUS mastermind joins forces with Underworld’s Karl Hyde, guitarist Leo Abrahams, synthesist Jon Hopkins and Australia’s undisputed maestros of improvised minimalism – The Necks.

One day. Three improvised concerts. Two intervals. Each concert picks up where the other left off. Choose your own one, two or three part adventure in sound and vision. The first concert is based on a predetermined sequence of events and parts two and three will progress from there – each will have its similarities, each will have its differences. Like a laboratory conducting an undisclosed experiment, PURE SCENIUS will be a combustible, spontaneous, must-see mix of intellect, innovation and instrumentation.

And the experiment goes beyond audio; offstage Toby Vogel will be filming, mixing, re-processing and projecting layers of imagery on three massive screens – just like he does for Underworld’s live shows.

Sunday 14 June
Concert 1: 5pm - 6.30pm
Concert 2: 7.30pm - 9.00pm
Concert 3: 9.45pm - 11.15pm

One Concert: $60
*Two Concerts: $95
*Three Concerts: $130

*Two and Three Concert packages not available on-line

The pre-sale password is 'PURE PRIORITY'. Get moving, Aussie dirts!

[ben]

Got my tickets! :D This is going to be awesome.

[TheBang]

How many concerts did you get?

[ben]

All three. I'm making the trip to Sydney from Perth so I may as well make the most of it!

[stauff]

Sweet, got my tickets.. just for the first 2 shows. Should be a great night.

[Bargo]

Holy cow, this is awesome.. and it is finally realizing a long, long wish I've had of The Necks and Underworld collaborating. :D For the dirts that haven't seen The Necks play live before, you are in for a real treat, they're my favorite live artist of all time and are absolutely stunning to listen to.

Got my tickets for all three parts, and can't wait!!!

edit: thank you Karl for pretty much making one of my dreams come true.. you rock!! I'm so excited about this..

[TheBang]

Luminous started last night. Watch the lighting of the sails each night with the live webcam:

http://www.viostream.com/sydneyoperahouse/luminous/lightingthesails

[TheBang]

There's a time lapse of "Lighting the Sails" available here:

http://soh.viotv.com/

It might also have performances on that page in the future.

[Bargo]

Popping in between shows to just say WOW.. what an amazing night this has been.. And there's still one more show to go! Karl, you're doing a bloody good job (also I smiled heaps when I heard the "I'm a big sister.." sample.

Oh, and Brian Eno is rather funny :)

And everyone else is doing such a great job.

Roll on show #3!

[stauff]

Just got home from seeing 1 and 2. I was a bit so-so on #1, but really enjoyed #2. Not sure what was different, but it just felt a lot better. Kind of regretting not buying all 3 now.. oh well.

Someone behind me in the audience said "Who's Mr Stripey?".

I'd like to know if Mr Stripey finally got his guitar off the stand in the 3rd performance .. was looking forward to hearing it. Also loved the big sister sample.

[TheBang]

Wow, I hope we get more detailed reports from you guys. My curiosity is piqued.

I hope someone took some video clips too, maybe?

[Andrea]

That would be very nice!
I don´t really understand this concert, is it based on improvisations or something?

[joethelion]

I wonder if there are gonna be any recordings of it?

[TheBang]

Lots of people thought it was great, but no one's explaining what it was.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/one-bright-idea-sets-the-city-sparkling/2009/06/14/1244917933534.html
http://thewaterfront.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/scenius-killed-the-radio-star/
http://twitter.com/confusedmachine/status/2165477876
http://twitter.com/edmund66/status/2168920322

[ben]

WOW! That was the most amazing performance ever.

Amazing artists
Amazing venue
Amazing concept

I just got back to Perth after 3 hours sleep and catching the 6am flight, so I'm not with it enough to write much more at the moment.

A big thanks to Karl for chatting to a few fans after the second concert! He even signed my Underworld Superstars!

[Bargo]

Well I'm home now so I can write a little more.

The night was split into three shows of around 90 minutes in length. In attendence were Eno, Karl, The Necks (piano/bass/drums trio and amazing improvists), Leo Abrahams on guitar and Jon Hopkins on piano and electronics. Peter Chilvers was also in attendence and helping Eno out.

The shows had a strong emphasis on improvisation. Eno acted as the coordinator (or ringmaster, as you will), occasionally giving the guys vague little 4-5 word directives on how to progress the sound (he'd write them on slips of paper which - I'm guessing here - got displayed on the 2 screens facing the members). Occasionally the audience was privvy to these messages as well, as they'd come up on the video screens (I'd like to quote some but I'd be going off very bad memory at this point).

But ultimately, each artist fed off and spurred on one-another to progress and evolve the sound they were creating. It was wonderful to see the surprised smiles on their faces, especially Karl's (he seemed to really be having the most fun out of all of them, seriously, he looked absolutely thrilled), when someone would throw something new and surprising into the sonic mix.. encouraging the rest of them to adapt and contribute in their own ways.

There were repeated themes which evolved from show to show. In roughly the middle part of each show, the music gradually led towards a beautiful "duet" of sorts between Chris Abrahams (from The Necks) and Jon Hopkins.. both sitting at their respective pianos on opposing sides of the stage. Chris would play one chord, then Jon would play. By the third show, this had evolved into something so indescribably beautiful I can barely give it enough praise. I have no shame in saying that it just about brought me to tears.

For those wondering about Karl's input.. well, the man came prepared with his notebooks of lyrical musings (what I'd give to take a look through them..!), sample CDs, and other electronic kit. He recited some of this poetry, sung, spoke, played, did many wonderful things. It would not have been the same without his presence. Underworld fans would've spotted the occasional line they recognized.. indeed, in the early parts of the third show, he pretty much sung the whole lyrics to "Headset" whilst The Necks improv'd in the background ('I'll live in a cardboard box, but I'll have my fountain pens..'.. I still remember that moment)

There were so many highlights and I've already written far too much, so I'll just list some of my favourite bits:
- The start to the second show.. 1-2-3-NOISE!!!!!!! I think just about everyone jumped out of their seat.
- The many moments when Eno and Hyde would sing or recount poems together. I especially loved the bit where Eno would keep saying "what if?", and Karl would follow with a lyric of his own.

"What if?"
"The waitress spoke in French.."
"What if?"

- The duets between Abrahams and Hopkins.
- The encore to the third show. It was MASSIVE and got the whole opera house moving. Holy shit.
- Pink Moon!!
- The Necks getting a new, wider audience. I've always felt these guys are one of the most under-appeciated bands.. stuff like this is gonna get them noticed in a big way.
Edit: thought of some more highlights :)
- The coffee table and couches out the front of the stage, where the various members of the ensemble could chill, chat and listen whilst their musical companions continued the show. Sounds a bit gimmicky but wasn't.
- Karl and Eno kicking off the third set just by themselves.
- Karl getting up and painting the words "HOME" on the tent up the back, towards the end of the third show.
- I loved that Brian let The Necks just play by themselves for 10-15 minutes in each of the shows, after which the other members would gradually get back up off the couch and join them in progressing the music.

Regarding "Pink Moon".. in each of the three shows they played a song which wasn't improvised, called "Pink Moon", again evolving it over each of the 3 shows. Karl sang the lyrics, and it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL song. Wasn't a cover of Nick Drake's song as far as I know. If anyone knows more info about what/who wrote this song, I'd love to know. It sounded very familiar to me but I've no other songs called "Pink Moon" in my library..

Sorry for writing so much, but this was really a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I'm still absolutely buzzing from it, 12 hours later. Some badly-taken photos from my mobile phone:

Hyde and Eno (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2039/sceniusplay3y.jpg)
More of the group (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/7886/sceniusplay2.jpg)
And More (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/1462/sceniusplay1.jpg)
The Necks, during a bit where they were left alone to play by themselves (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/497/sceniusnecks.jpg)
Everyone says goodbye :) (http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/2766/sceniusbye.jpg)

[Troy McClure]

Found this youtube vid...almost certain Karl singing a bit here in the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDg9tR72FKU

Jason

[Bargo]

Oh awesome, thanks for the link!

The other videos posted by the same guy:
one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tk4Wh6pTmY) (this, incidentally, is the "Pink Moon" I was referring to in my post.. if anyone can identify this song I'd be most appreciative)
two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10lAqJVHsE8) (one of the beautiful duets between Abrahams and Hopkins)
three (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVspdDyPEQE)

Man I wish the sound was better in those clips, it's absolutely rubbish. :(

Edit: Another performance of "Pink Moon" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Qfk-Pa-iI&feature=related), slightly better audio in this one.
Edit2: The encore of the 3rd set (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca4qNrmZoCQ), again pretty awful audio quality though

[TheBang]

Wow, thanks for the write-up, Bargo. That's awesome that you got to meet him, ben.

Here is a playlist I created with 15 videos that I found:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D6E2079CEB9F9C8A

And some lovely pictures in the UW diary today.

[stauff]

Thanks for writing it all up Bargo :)

... Occasionally the audience was privvy to these messages as well, as they'd come up on the video screens (I'd like to quote some but I'd be going off very bad memory at this point).

I sort-of remember a few:

Moving to the extremes of pitch
Mixing warm and cold
Just the Necks
Ikebana Noise Club
Niigata Machine .. er..something..


I loved the Pink Moon track too. And Karl had a lot to say about waitresses..

[Andrea]

Very interesting concert. Thank you for the review and the links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9otFdNPNy4&feature=PlayList&p=D6E2079CEB9F9C8A&index=10

Hmm....Karls red trainers were like flowers on the grass....shining in different tones :)

[holden]

Excellent review - sounds like an amazing event!

Checking out the awesome vids now!

[Klaatu]

Niigata Machine .. er..something..




Niigata Machine Techno

[phaseblue]

Niigata Machine Techno

Hmmm...Niigata is the prefecture in Japan where the Fuji Rock Festival is held every year,
and we all know who headlined there last summer:rolleyes:

[Bargo]

A new video has popped up of the final encore piece, much better audio in this one. I really loved this so much, Tony Buck's percussion was phenomenal.

a youtube link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkrxJb5myws)

really kicks into gear around the 4 minute mark

[TheBang]

I've continued to add videos to the Playlist (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D6E2079CEB9F9C8A) as they pop up.

[Andrea]

Cool sound, it´s like a square-shaped continuation of Cuddle Bunny vs Celtic Villages with lyrics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_kptXwMeTw&feature=PlayList&p=D6E2079CEB9F9C8A&index=16

[TheBang]

Some official photos from Pure Scenius:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=271278&id=161487580007

[TheBang]

Sydney's Pure Scenius is getting an album release:

http://www.leoabrahams.com/webdiary/

I think there was talk of a DVD at one point too?