I Have Eaten The City

Sometimes musicians, especially younger ones, don’t know when to quit when it comes to free improv. Seventy minutes of continuous improv? Sure, if Cecil Taylor can do it, we should all be so inspired... Fortunately, although the three tracks that compose I Have Eaten the City's debut recording never fall short of 20 minutes, each one remains interesting. One helpful factor is that two of the players move from instrument to instrument, which, as with Sam Rivers’ work, keeps the line-up fresh within each extended piece. Another strong point is cellist/keyboardist Nick Storring’s use of electronically processed sounds as a lead instrument rather than as a soundscape generator; a tactic all too common in contemporary improvised music. Saxophonist/guitarist Colin Fisher and Storring are able to act both as lead and support voices, while exploring the tonal and textural qualities of their gear all at once. Drummer Brandon Valdivia, although a fine player, rarely runs the show. Perhaps that’s just the dynamic of the band, but I’d like to hear him initiate more ideas for the others to follow — usually Storring fulfils that role. Storring’s cello is a valuable asset to this ensemble; it balances between bass and midrange, weaving in well with Fisher’s contributions. One wonderful passage towards the end of track two features a serpentine duet between cello and sax; it’s almost impossible to pick them apart and the overall effect is like a hyper-aggressive Theremin. These guys don’t hold anything back on this recording; it’s a howling, multi-textured flight into the noise-jazz outer spaceways. - Exclaim! Magazine (www.exclaim.ca)

Something truly extraordinary is set to take place at Waterloo’s
Starlight Club next Wednesday night, as Damo Suzuki leaves his
home in Germany and returns to Canada. The former lead vocalist
of the hugely influential 1970s avant–garde rock band Can has
made playing live his prime focus, bringing his unique brand of
singing and poetry to musical collaborators who engage in
“instant composing” with him on–stage.
“I like to play live music because music is communication,
which is a physical thing that you can’t do by only producing cds,”
he explains. “I like to create the time and space of the moment on
the spot with local musicians. We can get the kind of real
communication with the music but also it will be much more than
music. It’s a different kind of energy sharing.”
Upholding his status as an underground legend, Suzuki
eschews conventional musical schedules that would see him enter
recording studios before plugging a new album of songs on the
road. Instead he releases nothing but live albums composed of
one–off pieces he has created with the “Damo Suzuki Network,”
whose membership includes groups of complete strangers from
around the world.
“Writing music is, I think, quite a Western country idea
because they like to have control and place systems on it,” he
states. “I’m against any kind of authority so I don’t like there to
be systems that say, ‘You must compose and train this and go to
the studio and go on a tour and play the same pieces 200 or 300
times.’ Those things I cannot do because it’s my life, because I
like to have everything new and every day adventures. It’s much
more communication with the people, it’s pure and honesty
music.”
Suzuki’s fervent belief in reaching other musicians and
audiences with inspired, one–of–a–kind artistic experiences has
influenced peers and onlookers the world over. In Waterloo, for instance, cellist/laptop manipulator Nick Storring, of I Have Eaten
the City, was so compelled by Suzuki’s musical philosophy, he
tried contacting him about performing together at the Starlight
Club.
“Basically I had read an article about Damo in the Wire in
which he demonstrated an incredible willingness to join forces
with young performers and play music in public,” Storring recalls.
“This was very inspiring to me and so, knowing that he previously
played the Guelph Jazz Festival, I thought I would contact him to
see whether he’d be interested in coming to this area. I simply
emailed him and he was immediately enthusiastic.”
It’s a measure of Suzuki’s faith in anonymous online voices
that finds him travelling the planet to try and create something
magical with people he knows little about. “I never meet the
people who are playing with me,” he says. “That way it’s really
good because the communication is beginning from this moment.
I don’t know them and they don’t me so it’s really scary and really
an adventure. Some promoters think Damo is mad or something,
but it is my trademark!”
In Ontario this month, Suzuki might not know who he’s
playing with but audiences certainly will. Through his contacts in
Toronto, the vocalist has arranged a series of shows that will see
him perform with musicians from Broken Social Scene, Do Make
Say Think, the Sadies, Mtrhom, and I Have Eaten the City among
others. It’s a testament to Suzuki’s influence on a younger
generation of artists that so many have jumped at the chance to
perform these special shows with him in Canada.
“I grew up in the suburbs so there wasn’t a lot of Can that
came my way but now that I’m more familiar with it, I can see how
they influenced the artists that influenced me,” says Brendan
Canning of Broken Social Scene. “Like, ‘ah, that’s where Stereolab
got that bass line from.’ I also saw him play at a festival we were at in Europe recently and it was amazing! So yeah, I’m honoured
and excited to play with him for sure.”
While none of the artists know quite what to expect on
Wednesday, Suzuki has a pretty good sense of how the
performance will go over with the assembled audience.
“I think every time I have a good concert because I have a
feeling with the people that they like this,” he laughs. “Every
concert, audiences go home with smiles on their face and I think
this is good because this is why I’m making music; to make
people happy with the creative moment.” - Echo Weekly