Audiovisiva

Audiovisiva is the Milanese festival that in recent years has established itself as a flagship event for programming that unites visual and musical experimentation. This year, spread across three evenings, it offers a decidedly enticing line-up.

The first evening is given over to performances by Ben Frost and Tim Hecker. The eagerly awaited shows live up to expectations in every way. Ben Frost delivers an extremely long set (almost 75 minutes), given also the not always accessible nature of his music. The Australian, now based in Iceland, performs barefoot and in a tank top, presenting his latest, horror-tinged work "By The Throat". Amid vivid walls of sound, heavy outbursts, placid dub-ambient openings and a thunderous finale, a stunning live show unfolds, enchanting the audience seated in the beautiful setting of the Palazzo del ghiaccio. The overall result is steeped in a cosmic warmth that was hard to detect on his latest record. The gloomy, subterranean dimension gives way here to a liturgical ritual that closes with maddeningly loud hammer blows that shake the whole structure.

Tim Hecker's set, considerably shorter, finds him half-asleep, standing less than half a metre from the speakers. An intensely powerful live performance, a thunderous roar lasting little more than half an hour, sublimating into walls of sound whose melody is at once celestial and roaring. A flow in which extremely dense textures chase one another, in a continuous interplay of layering and catharsis.

The following evening offers several interesting concerts. Opening the proceedings is the improv quartet Ligatura, whose debut album is due out shortly on the ever-reliable Die Schachtel. The compositions, aside from the noisier moments, suffer from excessive pretentiousness, ending up merely tedious.

Once their forty-minute performance is over, I immerse myself in the masterpiece painted by The Books. Due out in June with their fourth full-length effort, the duo Nick "Zammuto" Willscher and Paul De Jong, using very simple tools (electric and acoustic guitar and prerecorded backing tracks), conjure up wonder after wonder, in a performance of pure folktronica.

They run through the highlights of "The Lemon Of Pink" along with a few tracks from the new record, keeping to an acoustic approach that enchants in its simplicity, amid layered interplay and delicate, celestial intimacy.

I then head over to listen to Tumble, the new project by Andrea Belfi and Attila Faravelli. An absolutely magnificent set for drums/percussion, laptop and effects, built on finely calibrated pieces, between incandescent flows, an enveloping rhythm section and intoxicating drones. A real surprise for anyone expecting an electroacoustic-style performance, who instead finds themselves facing a circular, all-encompassing sound.

The final gem of a wonderful evening comes courtesy of The Field. The blond Swede's set features drums, bass, laptop, sequencer and guitars. The live show takes off immediately, with an instantly danceable rhythm section, dreamy ambient trails and blazing guitars. The tracks from "Yesterday & Today" take on a shimmering golden sheen, completely different from the one they wear on record. The crowd responds and starts dancing, albeit rather shyly. The majestic, celestial opening of "Leave It", poised between techno and dream-pop spirit, and the chasing rhythms of "I Have The Moon, You Have The Internet" trace trajectories that project the listener into other dimensions.

With this edition, Audiovisiva firmly establishes itself in the spotlight, with a programme and an organisation that would be hard to replicate. An absolutely unmissable event, destined to become an essential fixture on the calendar of music festivals across the country.

Special thanks to deSna B. for the invaluable photographic contribution.

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