The viennese sound:frame festival is livid in its 8th iteration this year. Under the span of a combined visual arts and music festival, local and international artists find that the chosen venue „Brut“ is indeed once again in the heart of viennese music history in terms of quality and scope. Art and music afficionados are treated to a spectacle of aural and visual stimuli as VJs and Bands perform simultaneously and the technology of video and sound equipment at work has evolved to a point to provide some truly spectacular and tactile experiences for the eyes and ears. rockvideos.at will be there every day this weekend to capture the sights for you.
The final incarnation of sound:frame 2014 rounded off the festival with a strong feast for the eyes and ears.
First up were Lumisokea, they are a Belgian-Italian duo, formed by Koenraad Ecker and Andrea Taeggi. Their music is at once highly physical and rich in texture, using various acoustic instruments as well as analog hardware to create a dark and introspective listening experience. Their influences range from dub to noise, traditional percussion musics from Asia & Africa, techno, musique concrète and contemporary classical music, while remaining focused on the key elements in their music : to induce trance-like states, to move bodies and to emphasize the tactile qualities of sound.
WIFE. from London delivered a contemplative yet powerful performance. Heartbeat-like soundscapes were multiplied in intensity by his powerful vocals. The visual counterpart was no less impressive with elegant monochromatic images part soundwave part charcoal print shimmying along blissfully.
The festival was closed out acoustically by L.A. based deckmaster and captain of the african space program RAS G. Micro-samples, beats and sublime mixing were complimented well by visuals depicting a collage of pop culture and american themed imagery moving in tune to the music provided by the resident viennese visual artists.
Audio:
LUMISOKEA – (AntiVJ, Berlin)
WIFE. – (Tri Angle Records, London)
RAS G – (Stones Throw Records / Brainfeeder / Ninja Tunes, LA)
Video:
THOMAS WAGENSOMMERER (Vienna)
CONNY ZENK (wemakevisuals, Vienna)
ULI KÜHN (Vienna)
Friday 4.4.2014
Back in full swing for three Austrian premieres at a packed Brut. Alongside live visuals provided by austrian magicians NITA and VALENCE we were treated to an international music line up featuring Anushka from Brighton, Jonwayne from L.A. and Romare from London.
First up we had „Vocal Bass Music From The Future“, duly supplied by the british duo Anushka of Brownswood Records. Max Wheeler on the decks and Victoria Port on vocals the whole crowd was quickly convinced to follow the singular rule the two had brought with them from England „While we are here, no one is allowed to sit down!“. Beats by Wheeler and Vocal craftsmanship provided by Afro touting Victoria and her Lioness Dress quickly got everyone hot, sweaty and dancing. Geometric beats, blissful looking girls and very melodic graphics in tune with music gave the performance a lovely synergy.
The true highlight of the evening was the performance of L.A. based rapper Jonwayne from Stones Throw Records. The supreme drive of his beats and lyrical rodeo had the crowd reaching fever pitch in no time. This is what we call Poetry in Motion, as his music was followed up with actual poetry that was both profound and well written, analogous to his music. Jonwayne quickly made himself comfortable on stage, who needs shoes anyways, and subsequently got close and personal by taking a stroll through an endearing crowd. The visuals on display had a pop-art poster like quality to them, often featuring snippets of Jonwayne himself. It was loud, it was smooth, it was awesome!
British DJ Romare of Black Acre Records closed out the evening with a balanced set of beats, melodies and harmonic synth perfect for dancing.
Audio:
ANUSHKA – (Brownswood Records, Brighton)
JONWAYNE – (Stones Throw Records, Los Angeles)
ROMARE – (Black Acre Records, London)
Video:
NITA. (Vienna)
VALENCE (Vienna)
Thursday 3.4.2014
First up acoustically were Robb, a mellow combo of pop, electro and singer songwriter influences. The young band has managed to garner quite a bit of attention since their inception only several months ago and we have found that this attention is well deserved. They were accompanied visually by viennese visual artists „Fuxherz„, an animated mixture of water color washes with the constant focus on the ink drawn roaming fox, personally it reminded me of „Okami“, perhaps one of the most visually appealing video games ever made.
Robb were followed by the eclectic combo known as „The Ruff Pack„. Hip-Hop meets Jazz in this international set up of talented musicians oozing cool. They played a purely instrumental set and there was real skill at work here. The visuals were provided by JYD from Linz wherein monochromatic geometry was infused with dashes of color to give a much more modern look than Fuxherz earlier. I think it’s worth adding that the visuals accompany the music very seamlessly, a smooth experience indeed.
Finally the night was brought to a close by Sixtus Preiss, Owen Biddle and Zach Danziger. Another purely instrumental set with a hint of jam session and improvised jazz. Quality musicianship for a demanding audience. Coloursexist provided a kalidoscopic vision of rhythmic shapes and patterns that sublimely combined with the sounds coming off stage.
Audio:
ROBB – (Vienna/DE/USA)
THE RUFF PACK – (Session Work Records | NYC/ Vienna)
SIXTUS PREISS – (Affine Records | Vienna)
OWEN BIDDLE – (NYC)
ZACH DANZIGER – (NVC)
Video:
FUXHERZ – (Vienna)
JYD – (Linz)
COLORSEXIST – (fluxuskompensator | Vienna)
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