Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Otomo Yoshihide

I went to hear Otomo Yoshihide at Cafe Oto, round the corner from the Vortex on Ashwin Street. Great venue, which has created a lovely vibe for hearing creative music.
My anticipation turned into disappointment. He fiddled around on the peripheries of music. Low hum, leading to repetitions from the inside groove of an LP etc. The sound of police cars and mobile phones had a greater impact at times. Perhaps he works better responding and reacting to other musicians. What am I missing? There was a large audience there. Were they feeling hoodwinked or exhilarated? I didn't stay long enough to ask.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps I won't worry about making the trek into London to see him tonight then!

Babel blog said...

Except that tonight includes Evan Parker, John Butcher. Maybe, to be charitable, he works best if pitted against such geniuses.