Carter Tutti

Two weeks after the Agf & Delay concert, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, aka Carter Tutti, arrive at the Città del Teatro.

Members of the legendary Throbbing Gristle, when the band split up in 1981, they joined forces under the name Chris & Cosey. They released several albums on Rough Trade, built around a sinuous blend of electronics, distinctive sampling techniques and alien rhythms. Cosey's skills, both instrumental and vocal, definitively stamped the formula, making it unusual and seductive.

In 1983, to be precise, they set up a label of their own called Conspiracy International (aka Cti), for their most experimental releases and side collaborations.

They're regularly cited as among the most innovative and inventive producers of offbeat electronic music, and, no less importantly, as respected DJs in demand across Europe.

At the time (we're talking early '80s), albums like "Trance" sent a real jolt through the record industry of the genre, cross-breeding the industrial soul with synth-pop sounds.

Always inclined toward crossover with different disciplines, they've frequently taken an interest in adjacent artistic fields, forging working relationships with writers, video-makers and sound sculptors. Worth noting is the duo's steady presence in serious electronic music circles, contributing to albums by the likes of Monte Cazazza, Coil, Current 93, John Duncan, Erasure, Eurythmics, Boyd Rice, Robert Wyatt and others. In recent years they've turned to composing works for sound installations, resulting in a substantial and ambitious series called "The Library Of Sound and Electronic Ambient Remixes". In 2005, together with Peter Christopherson and Genesis P-Orridge, the pair reformed Throbbing Gristle, delivering memorable live performances and a brand new album.

After this brief introduction, let's get to the concert itself. The two take the stage with an almost detached, withdrawn manner, keeping a very low-key attitude. The performance is a fusion of sinuous video projections and the music the pair produce. The rhythm tracks are pre-recorded, and both Chris and Cosey add all sorts of improvisation as they go. He works the laptop and various electronic gadgets, while she sings, plays trumpet and roughs up the guitar.

The atmospheres are very dark and noisy; the blend of images and sound is perfect, with the shimmering colours and the abrasive timbres combining into a pleasantly disorienting experience for eyes and ears alike. The tracks flow one into the next at a pace that lurches and collapses violently, the guitar notes noisy and fussy, a myriad of loops darting through the surrounding air, tiny voices carving a path through impenetrable darkness. There's virtually no pause between one piece and the next; everything unfolds organically, as if it were a single track slowly feeding and multiplying on its own, somewhere between nocturnal ambient-techno, industrial noise and an experimentalism that's never an end in itself nor overly intrusive. The images are stylised colours moving either sluggishly or with an impatient bite, their chromatic patterns intertwining and merging into a triumph of visual beauty and perceptual ecstasy.

Despite the positive evening, the performance ends very early — barely 50 minutes of music, all told. A shame, since going deeper would have only benefited a formula that was already perfectly crafted. Overall, a show marked by flashes of pure percussive obsession, moments of digital melancholy and instances of sonic nastiness.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google