Holy Other
At stargaze presents there were not only perfectly tuned instruments to enjoy but also perfectly trained voices. The British electronica producer HOLY OTHER presented some of his pieces, standing in the middle of the Berlin choir CANTUS DOMUS. The balance between the harmonizing voices of the men and women was so good, that sometimes it was hard to tell if the singing came from the people or from the surreal sound landscapes HOLY OTHER created.
CANTUS DOMUS was also singing on Saturday when the group 1000 ROBOTA from Hamburg rocked the stage. The performance was completed by brass players and string players of the stargaze ensemble.
The intelligent and sometimes sarcastic texts, sung by Anton Spielmann, called TOCOTRONIC to mind. The choir multiplied the charismatic gloomy voice of the front man or commented on the mood the band and the ensemble created.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden alias MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND didn’t need a choir since the voice of the trained opera singer has so many facets that it was entertainment enough, also because she was costumed like a ringmaster and showed some crazy dance numbers.
Together with a drummer, a bassist and the new music ensemble ZAFRAAN she presented both songs from her last album All Things Will Unwind and songs of her new record This is my Hand coming out this year.
Recently NBHAP interviewed Bryce Dessner whose composition was performed at ‘stargaze presents’.
(Photo by Shervin Lainez)
The short pieces that prefaced the three evenings were composed by BRYCE DESSNER, Ben Shemie and OWEN PALLETT, three man you can also find in the sphere of rock bands, namely THE NATIONAL, SUUNS and ARCADE FIRE. The compositions proved that it is possible to unite the understanding of classical contemporary music and rock and roll in one person.
Apart from one video projection the visual influence was as reduced as possible so that one could fully concentrate on the music.
The very clear and sophisticated concept of stargaze presents and the historic and beautiful location worked out very well – the Volksbühne was sold out and the audience rewarded every performance with long lasting applause.
Hopefully this has also convinced the Hauptstadtulturfonds, which financed stargaze presents, to support the festival next year as well. This family of musicians ‘bound by this desire to explore new sounds and ideas’, as André de Ridder put it in an interview with NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION, should definitely grow.
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STARGAZE PRESENTS