The Brisbane Powerhouse witnessed a very unusual line-up on Thursday evening, as a part of the Open Frame festival.
We are promised 'an eclectic mix of artists experimenting with sound', and descriptors such as avant-garde and ambient music are offered up as to what we may expect. With that context, the three musicians lined up for the evening seem very appropriate.Leading into the event, Keiji Haino is clearly going to be the most challenging of the artists from a musical standpoint. One review notes that Haino led the 'loud, free-form, noise loaded guitar movement' from Japan in the 1970s.
He and one of his collaborators are at the forefront of the 'noise music' movement. Listening to part of his catalogue proves these references to be appropriate, so it will be more absorbing the show, rather than enjoying specific pieces of Haino's music.
Eiko Ishibashi's music is more accessible. I first came across her music when she had curated the music for the beautiful 2019/20 show at the Art Gallery of NSW, 'Japan Supernatural'.
Her music is highly influenced by her love of film, with two of her best known albums (from 2022 and 2024) being the scores for movies by multi-Oscar winning Ryusuke Hamaguchi. When listening to her music, especially 2024's 'Evil Does Not Exist', one piece of music stands out as a clear influence. The Miles Davis 1969 masterpiece, 'In A Silent Way' had been the huge influence on Ishibashi.
Connecting the two artists is Jim O'Rourke. O'Rourke played in Sonic Youth for six years, a 1990s band famed for its musical and sound experimentation (and noise music), and he had also mixed and/ or produced two albums for the fantastic Wilco, one of which won a Grammy.
Ahead of the show I listened to the ambient 2023 piece, 'Lifetime Of A Flower' in which Ishibashi and O'Rourke collaborated; it's a 42 minute album, with 2 pieces attempting to document exactly what the title suggests. I actually really enjoyed the music, and again there is a clear and strong influence of Miles Davis post the late 1960s.
O'Rourke has lived in Japan for around two decades, partner of and frequent collaborator with Ishibashi. The two met as Ishibashi played flute on O'Rourke’s Burt Bacharach cover album featuring various Japanese singers.
If I was to recommend one piece of music to get a feel for O'Rourke's style and influence, it would be Wilco's 'Reservations' off 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot', the album mixed by O'Rourke. Listen to the song, but particularly the last three minutes; I think it gives a good insight into much of his music and what can be expected on the current tour.
It is also notable the Open Frame festival includes a night with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, along with a movie dedicated to Ryuchi Sakamoto who sadly passed away in 2023, and other Japanese non-traditional music performers.
Open Frame, which originated in Brisbane almost 20 years ago, has played in London and Switzerland, and other major centres, and is likely to move to Melbourne next year. The aim is to encourage the audience to experience new music and sounds, and to get immersed in this art form. The three are touring Australia, having played at the Art Gallery of NSW the prior night.
Jim O'Rourke - image © Bill Prendergast
Moving on to the performance, O'Rourke kicked off the evening seated in the middle of the audience, facing the stage at what looked like a school desk. The desk contained a laptop and a small console. The setting was very dark, the music quite haunting in parts, but with a constant almost throbbing underlying bass tone.
Over the underlying bass were played a range of sounds, at one point footsteps, the next water dripping onto the floor. There was some very subtle trumpet and organ at points.
O'Rourke engaged minimally with the crowd (a feature of the three sets), but the point was engaging with the music, not the artist, so this didn't detract from the work. His set was a 35-minute piece, broadly based off the GRM work he had done in France.
Ishibashi appeared next, this time on the stage, but again to little – if any – fanfare. The artist was bathed in red light for the full set, everything else almost pitch black. The set was very subtle, again being based around a laptop and connected console.
Eiko Ishibashi - image © Bill Prendergast
The first piece contained some of the themes from the aforementioned flower work, but the entire set was completely improvised according to Lawrence English, the curator of Open Frame.At times Ishibashi picked up the flute, one of the instruments for which she is well known, and later in the set, she is heard humming, almost singing, but with no discernible lyrics.
The set winds up with a jaunty piece, quite French in its construction, with a theme that almost sounds like carousel music. Again, with this final piece, there is rather light singing, which is done over similar light vocal sounds from the underlying pre-recorded music.
Haino was last onstage. Free earplugs were on offer to the crowd, so clearly it was going to be much louder than the first two acts. He commenced with what sounded like the ping pong sound from an Atari machine, then imposed his screams, and guttural yells.
For the second piece he picked up the guitar, placed it in his lap, and started playing wildly, fingering the strings in a highly unusual manner, and almost pulling the strings off the guitar.
Keiji Haino - image © Bill Prendergast
The third piece – or phase of music – had Haino reading in English: "I love everything but everything has become everything yet," over and over. There were some additional comments, but this phrase was repeated many times. It was just his voice, with no instrumentation on this.
Next up, he had the guitar in his hands again, very wildly playing, and running through loops and delays so that what he had played was repeated over what was subsequently played. Two strings were broken in this crazed playing, so when he played what appeared to be a chord later in the set, it was no surprise the guitar was no longer in tune.
The set continued for an hour or so, with more screaming and shrieking, along with the wild guitar work.
Keiji Haino - image © Bill Prendergast
Tonight was an evening to enjoy a night of ambient music. There was no reference point in the music to create a familiarity with individual pieces. However, that is the point.
It was an evening to relax on a cushion, ignore any language issues, and become immersed in unfamiliar sounds and music. This is what I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and I think that most of the audience had a similar positive experience!
More photos from the concert.
