Skaņu Mežs: John Maus (USA)

Name: Skaņu Mežs: John Maus (USA)
Start: 2024-11-13T20:00:00+02:00
Location: Angārs

Schedule

Wed Nov 13 2024 at 08:00 pm

UTC+02:00

Location

Angārs | Riga, RI

13. novembrī koncertzālē Angārs (Tallinas iela 10-1), iepriekš pazīstamā kā Tu Jau Zini Kur, uzstāsies amerikāņu alternatīvais popmūziķis Džons Mauss (John Maus) un vakara programmu papildinās arī latviešu “post-estrādes” mākslinieks Juriss. Koncertu rīko biedrība “Skaņu mežs”, un biļetes nopērkamas https://www.bilesuserviss.lv/eng/tickets/muzika/john-maus-437419/. Biļešu cena ir 26 EUR. Pasākuma sākums: 20:00.
Džons Mauss rada satīrisku, nevērīgu sintpopu ar nepārprotamām atsaucēm uz astoņdesmito gadu popkultūru. Mauss ir doktora grāda kandidāts politiskajā filozofijā un ir mācījies arī mūzikas kompozīciju. Viņa mūzikas spilgtākā īpašība ir nepastarpināts emocionāls patoss, ko grūti nesajust, lai arī daudzās viņa dziesmās ticis darīts viss, lai tās nebūtu iespējams uztvert nopietni.
Laikraksts “The New York Times” Mausu nodēvējis par “savdabīgu popzvaigzni”, bet mūzikas kritikas portāls “Pitchfork” - par “pancīgu intelektuāli”. Visbeidzot, medijs “NASTY Magazine” raksta sekojoši: “Skaidrs, ka frāze “kulta mūziķis” ir tikusi lietota par daudz. Taču attiecībā uz Džonu Mausu to nevar nelietot.”
Turpretim medijs “Slant Magazine”, kas Mausa daiļradi raksturojis kā nepieejamu un maksimāli pretenciozu, visbeidzot atzīst: “Tā ir tiešām s**īga mūzika.” Portāls “Drowned in Sound” Mausa dziedāšanu salīdzinājis ar “defekāciju caur muti”, un kaut kur pa vidu šim spodras publicitātes maratonam viņš ir ticis atzīts arī par “pārsteidzošā kārtā kaitinošāku pat par dziedātāju Arielu Pinku”.
Iespējams, ka pozitīvi noskaņoto kritiķu daļu un uzticīgo fanu pulku pārliecina Mausa pārgalvīgā balansēšana starp talantu un paviršību, kā arī nenopietnību un dziļdomību. Lai arī Mausa mūzikā gadās arī atbalsis no viņa intereses par filozofiju un mūzikas vēsturi, tie ir tieši nejēdzīgākie skaņdarbi, kas paradoksālā kārtā uzrunā klausītājus vispamatīgāk. Ir pieļaujams teikt, ka jo mazāk Mauss cenšas publiku pārliecināt par to, ka ir īpašs, jo vairāk viņam tas izdodas.
Jau minētais izdevums “The New York Times” raksta sekojoši: “Dziesmas, ko rada Mauss, ir sava veida fantāzijas par astoņdesmito gadu sintpopu, kas mēdz robežoties ar parodijām. Dučiem tā saucamo “chillave” vai “glo-fi” apakšžanru mākslinieku tieši tāpat kā Mauss sajūsminās par tā laikmeta bungu mašīnām, ledaini skanošiem sintezatoru akordiem un nolemtības pilniem, spalgiem vokāliem. Taču Mauss no tiem atšķiras, jo spēj “new wave” mūzikā saklausīt gregoriāņu dziedājumus.”
Publicētās intervijās Mauss nereti tiek raksturots kā impulsīvs, drudžains, ar idejām pārņemts runātājs. Sarunā ar izdevuma “The Guardian” žurnālistu Semu Ričardsu (Sam Richards), viņš sacījis sekojošos vārdus, kas, iespējams, izskaidro viņa mūzikas nemainīgi absurdo noskaņu: “Mēs dzīvojam pasaulē, kurā informācijas aprite ir ātrāka un plašāka nekā jebkad. Taču viss, ko šī aprite nodrošina, ir muļķības. Mēs vienkārši rotaļājamies ar saviem viedtālruņiem, dzenājam ziņojumus turpu-šurpu, un ar tiem nepasakām pilīgi neko.”
Džona Mausa dzīvie priekšnesumi ir tikuši raksturoti kā “bedīgi slaveni”, “mežonīgi’ un “eksaltēti”, tikmēr viņa komunikācija ar faniem - kā gracioza un dāsna.
Projekta Juriss mūzikā dzirdama līdzīga “autsaideru popa” noskaņa kā Džona Mausa daiļradē. Oficiālais projekta apraksts liecina arī par savdabīgu humora izjūtu (runā, ka projekta galveno darbinātāju nemaz nesauc Juris): “Meistarīgs Garage band lietotājs. Nekāda mūzikas skola, tikai dziļi apsiestas sāpes. Latvieši rezonē. Pārstāv pašizdomāto “Post-estrādes” žanru. Jura mūzika viņa albumos “Naaves dziemsas” un “Stulpas dziemsas” notver uzmanību ar savu nefiltrēto pieeju. Ritms kas ierauj transā un melanholiskie dziesmu vārdi, kas pieskarās tādām, visiem pazīstamām tēmām kā piederība, ilgas, nolemtība un mīlestība.Uz skatuves Juriss ir enerģijas pilns un spēj likt visiem klātesošajiem izdzīvot savu mūziku, ar nenoliedzamu pašatdevi un vismaz pāris promilēm asinīs.''
Biļešu informācija
Pirmās piecdesmit biļetes ir nopērkamas “Biļešu Servisa” kasēs un mājaslapā par 22 EUR. To cena sekojoši celsies līdz 26 EUR. Visbeidzot, biļetes pie ieejas maksās 30 EUR.
Video:

Vairāk informācijas: www.skanumezs.lv

•••

On November 13, alternative pop musician John Maus will perform in Riga, Latvia at concert hall Angārs (Tallinas street 10-1), previously known as Tu jau zini Kur. Latvian musician Juriss is joining the bill to open the night. The concert is organized by Skaņu Mežs association for adventurous music. The event starts at 20:00, and tickets can be purchased at www.ticketservice.lv. While the first 50 tickets cost 22 EUR, the standard price is 26 EUR, and eventually 30 EUR at the entrance.
John Maus is a truly enigmatic musician. Broadly cut from the synth pop cloth, he’s fashioned the frosty minimalism of its fabric into a cloak of infinite meaning, genuine grace and absurdist humor over the course of three defining albums since 2006. His music is a highly mutable affair, whilst often described as retro-futurist on behalf of the 80’s drum machines and synth sounds employed, John’s music is more personal than the nostalgic re-tread implied. There’s a cinematic quality to his songs, with pathos conjured through propelling bass-lines, trailing arpeggios and of course his deeply resonant vocal. Moroder helped map out the territory but Maus is more interested in seeking cadence through his love of Renaissance polyphony and the experimentation behind post punk. It’s an amalgamation of musical ideas as radical as its intent.

Maus is a ‘man out of time’ trying to make sense of the inhumanity of our world through his mobilisation of the language of punk rock. His aim is true as he reaches for the seemingly impossible. It’s a want to emerge as part of greater multiplicity, to appear, to become, to connect that powers his songs and the man himself.

It’s now been twelve years since the widely lauded album We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves (2011) appeared like a thunderbolt of maniacal energy and turned everyone’s heads. Now regarded an experimental pop classic, Pitiless Censors was a huge breakthrough for Maus as a recognised artist and led to a vast reappraisal of his past work. Debut album Songs (2006) and the masterful follow up Love Is Real (2007) sounded better than ever the second time round for this groundswell of new followers. After touring Pitiless Censors around the world and pulling together a collection of rarities and unreleased tracks, Maus then returned to academic pursuits. In 2014, he was awarded a doctorate in Political Philosophy for his dissertation on communication and control. Shortly thereafter, he began building his own modular synthesizer, etching the printed circuit boards, soldering components, and assembling panels, until he had an instrument that matched his vision. With this prodigious task completed Maus turned his hand back to song writing and began work on what is now his fourth album proper Screen Memories (2017). Screen Memories was written, recorded, and engineered by Maus over the last few years in his home in Minnesota, known genially as the Funny Farm. It’s a solitary place situated in the corn plains of rural American Midwest. The landscape is as majestic as it is austere and inevitably some of the sub-zero winter temperatures creep into the songs as do the buzzing wasps of summer.

Screen Memories unfolds like a pageant, with its variety of songs tendering sunshine and shadow throughout. “The Combine” leads the procession with an apocalyptic stateliness all of its own. Clusters of chords dart between the solid rhythm track and artfully chimed bells. “It’s going to dust us all to nothing, man” intones Maus assuredly, “I see the combine coming”. Tracks like “Sensitive Recollections” and “Walls of Silence” overflow with the elegiac splendor we’ve become accustomed too from Maus’ previous work, at once mournful, yet full of redemption. Whilst “Find Out” is a persistent thrill ride of guitar histrionics and instructive demands amidst the sputtering drum machines. “Over Phantom” channels a similar perpetual energy with its hyperactive shifts of harmony and grand flourishes of swirling echo. “I am a phantom over the battlefield” booms Maus miles above the vast acres of dazzling bright melody. Many of John’s lyrics adopt this Spartan approach, yet their reiteration throughout the song bears up with their meaning shifting through repetition. “Teenage Witch” and “Pets” deploy a similar tactic, the latter teaming up one of John’s most droll lyrics with a colossal bass figure integrally linked to the song as a whole by way of forgotten thematic devices such as augmentation, stretto, and inversion. The lyrics at the end of the track underscore the album’s eschatological bent, “standing between time and its end.” “Decide Decide” finds Maus in dreamier climes, its arrangement of drums and exquisitely eddying keyboard lines tumble evocatively into huge oceans of ambience. Comparably quixotic synth-drifts come to the fore on “Edge Of Forever” too, the song sounding as if it was beamed in from a distant celestial sphere. “Touchdown” meanwhile is a great example of how Maus builds apprehension within his songs, it’s a primed and focused anthem, all scintillating keys and monumental beat. The tension only breaks once for a decidedly ebullient interlude with Maus echoing commands to “forward drive across the line!” That same feeling of your heart-racing away from you is also present in the taut track “The People Are Missing” (the only condition upon which any real politics can be founded), which captures some of the intensity and passion of John’s frenzied live performances.
2018 saw John release a 6-LP boxset collecting all his works to date including the 'Addendum' album, a sister release to 'Screen Memories'. Since then John has been busy exploring soundtrack opportunities and is currently prepping a new album proper.
More info: www.skanumezs.lv
Video: