Recently, the untamed music festival “Sound Forest” took place in Riga, and for the tenth time at that, an anniversary. We went there for the fifth time already, if not the sixth. I'll briefly write down my impressions. All photos are from easyget.lv
The first day took place in the "Splendid Palace" cinema, formerly "Riga". Nearby (near the cinema foyer) is the wine restaurant "TINTO Vina Telpa", which was selling wine and croissants near the entrance to the main hall, so many festival goers were holding huge glasses of red liquid. A bit later, I joined their ranks too.
However, I'm here to talk about the music. Though, it was quite often accompanied by visuals on the screen.
The first composition was something droning along to an opera. The authors talked about the piece without a microphone, so I didn't hear everything, but I think the opera was by Strauss, and for some reason they were talking about Stalingrad.
19:00 Jan-Peter Sonntag & Lars Guhlcke (DE) – “Sundogs’’, “612.43WEISS’’
On the screen, however, it was at first pitch-white, and nothing could be seen but the canvas. Then it turned out it was snowing, and when it thinned out a bit, it became clear it was a wartime photograph: an armored car and several soldiers. I think that was exactly what was happening near Stalingrad. Overall, I liked the idea with the photograph and the snow, but the music somehow left me indifferent.
The next piece was droning, rustling, and crackling to the black-and-white silhouettes of leafless trees in Sweden, filmed in winter from a passing car. Sometimes the trees were replaced by power line poles or rails, but overall the picture didn't change much. It all looked and sounded atmospheric, and by that time I had somehow already tuned into the right calm mood, so I took in this melancholic picture with pleasure.
19:45 Peter Brotzmann & Mats Gustafsson(DE/SE)
Next up were avant-garde jazzmen, and they brought so much heat they almost blew my poor brain out. Judging by Wikipedia, Brotzmann is basically an icon of European free jazz, and Gustafsson - of the Swedish one. Both are saxophonists, and Brotzmann is also a clarinetist, which he brilliantly demonstrated. I personally don't listen to jazz and understand nothing about it, but free jazz is actually somehow easier for me to take in, especially live. Even if you don't like the lack of melodies or the overly monotonous sound of two saxophones, at least you can enjoy the frantic energy, the drive, and the effort the musicians put in – they gave it their absolute all, you can't argue with that. At points, I was afraid Gustafsson's head would pop from the strain, that's how hard he was blowing into his instrument. I can't listen to stuff like this at home, and even at a concert I wouldn't last more than an hour, but to break up the droning or crunchy electronica – it hits the spot perfectly. Thanks to the festival organizers for bringing such famous people over. It's a pity, though, that the hall was only two-thirds full. It feels like there are fewer and fewer visitors at Sound Forest every year, which personally causes me quite a bit of sorrow, although it's high time to get used to the fact that avant-garde and experimental music is exactly that because it doesn't attract the broad masses.
Unfortunately, the performance was overshadowed by the fact that the third musician, who was supposed to perform alongside Brotzmann and Gustafsson, passed away a few days before the concert.
Mats Gustafsson
Peter Brotzmann
20:55 Francois Bayle (FR)
The patriarch of electroacoustics and musique concrète, François Bayle, studied alongside John Cage and Pierre Schaeffer (the pioneer of musique concrete). He was born in Madagascar way back in 1932, which means he turned 80 this year. Unlike all the other performers, he stood in the center of the auditorium, not on stage. From what I understood, this is necessary to hear the eight speakers set up around the perimeter of the hall and to manipulate them to create the best surround sound.
The grandpa didn't disappoint – to me, his performance sounded like a massive crystal palace made of tetrahedrons and dodecahedrons, with multi-colored spotlights reflecting and refracting on its roof. There were such spotlights in the hall, by the way, and they were used during the performance, although I sat with my eyes closed most of the time for better immersion in the music. I was sitting right next to François, so I could hear everything perfectly.
Towards the end of the set it wasn't as impressive, after all, you get tired of concentrating on such a complex piece for so long. Nevertheless, I consider the Frenchman's performance one of the best at this year's festival. I later discussed François's work with other attendees, and to some it even seemed a bit too sharp – a girl literally felt physically sick from the overly piercing and sharp sounds; apparently, the shards of my crystal palace showered down and wounded her.
I think my hairy head is visible here, to the left of someone's bald one
François Bayle at the console and laptop
22:25 Santa Ratniece (LV) composition “Ondulado” performed by Edgars Rubenis, Karlis Tone, Maris Butlers, Davis Burmeisters and Lauris Abele
The well-known Latvian composer Santa Ratniece delighted us this time with a piece for five guitars. The sound swelled from quiet strumming to a literal wall of sound, or even a wall of noise. Pretty solid, it was also interesting to watch the performers, the lead guitarist in particular pleased us with his expressive movements and facial expressions.
Many guitarists here, by the way, according to Andrey, are from alternative and metal bands
23:15 Machinefabriek soundtrack for Imants Ziedonis “Krasainas pasakas” / “Colour Tales” (NL/LV)
Hiding behind the pseudonym Machinefabriek is a designer from the Netherlands, Rutger Zuydervelt, who resides in Rotterdam. A lover of twiddling the knobs of all sorts of analog electronic devices, which he indeed demonstrated. To be honest, after the intense sound of the previous musicians, I somehow didn't really absorb Rutger's quiet drone-rustling, so I have no opinion on whether he played well or poorly. The audience seemed to like it, at least the guy I exchanged a few words with. He, however, had barely heard Bayle, he showed up kind of late.
00:15 Forest Swords (UK)
The guitar-and-laptop duo from Britain didn't deliver anything unexpected: dubby meditative noise riffs, just like on the album. I used to love the band Psyhic Ills, and they also loved diving into stuff like this, though their sound wasn't quite as rich and dirty. On record, I like Forest Swords quite a bit, but live, my interest was moderate. Not bad, but nothing more than that. Why – it's hard to say. I think it's partly due to the fact that carefully listening to music for six hours straight, like I managed to in my youth, just isn't something I can pull off anymore.
A brief summary. Sound Forest still remains a cultural event for anyone interested in avant-garde, experimental, and intricate sound, and it turns out that going there on Thursday is a must too, otherwise you'll miss what is, in my opinion, the most interesting stuff. On Saturday, the church concert always seems a bit too calm for me, and on Friday it's now a dance night, and that format isn't for everyone (although I had a really fun and great time there).
I will say that the concert in the vegetable pavilion at Balta Nakts could easily rival this day, although Murcof plays techno, which is, after all, simpler and more accessible than François's acousmatic music.