Hinting Towards a New Audiovisual Performance

If I had prescient powers about the future course of cutting edge, underground music I would predict the emergence of experimental audiovisual performances in the 2010s (the tens?). In the age of Youtube, where music videos amount to bite-sized clips posted and traded on internet magazines just like this one, there just might not be the same need to invest in such visual representation of sound. On the other hand, due perhaps to the music video’s decline and coupled with the expanded access to more affordable video technology and infrastructure, a popular interest is building for pursuing audiovisual creative works and performance outside of the somewhat impervious art gallery circuit.

I’m not just referring to the veejay phenomenon, best exemplified by expert and ground pushing turntablist, Mike Relm, who effortlessly scratches and mixes pop culture signifiers from all over the map. Left field Boston triple threat MC/DJ/producer Edan just teamed with Tom Fitzgerald–the head film archivist of LA’s Cinefamily–to construct a 30 minute collage narrative for his new cut and paste mixtape pilfered from the vaults of Traffic Entertainment Group (Chocolate Star, Magic Records), to give birth to the thrilling Echo Party.

A clip of the video has made its rounds across the blogosphere, a five-minute whirling of vintage footage, erotic cartoons, Bollywood psychedelia, and still shots, all pieced in unison to Echo Party’s sampled drum breaks, fluttering tape echos, murky moog keys, and old school rapp vocals–yes, those of the double p variety. The aesthetic of the video collage mirrors the science of arranging a mixtape, a reorganizing of original samples into a new narrative, all warped, edited, and layered with additional effects. The duo just performed the music and video mix live in Los Angeles and San Francisco; so stay tuned if you’re fortunate enough to catch them in your city (it will probably be a last minute notice). If it doesn’t work out, I’ve read mysterious reports that Fitzgerald plans to release a full version of the Echo Party film.

If you’re in LA, you might also be able to witness Brainfeeder’s new audio-visual nights, held monthly (a very tentative monthly) by frontman Flying Lotus with a few surprise guests and experiments every time. Set in an actual theater, the Downtown Independent, the physical space might allow for the captivating aspects of theatrical performance that a typical night life venue would exclude, like a club goer’s intoxicated attention span. In my getting-way-ahead-of-myself imagination, I would hope for these adventurous art experiments to eventually amount to a new generation of bringing soundtrack to bear on film.