Session on listening: a modern ritual

Their name, part wild horses mane on both sides, invites us for a imaginative, mysterious experience of music. There is no stage, only the single table covered with most different devices, cassettes and found objects which trigger a journey, wandering. The atmospheric vibes of this UK duo encounter aggressive whiteness of the exhibition room. Layers of recorded ambient and voice conversed with flute create the mystical folk soundscape. The pool of sounds increases, building up into a ritualistic polyphony. Over half an hour, the performance sets a quest towards the ends of consciousness. Edgy, freestyle patterns refer to no tradition or categorization. Instead, they traverse depths of forests, mystical ancient lands or once taken roads. Simultaneous sound of a rock hits and live operated field recordings call for a human, one who created the first music instrument to please the gods and then mastered a godly machine. The creative technique feels like balanced mix of composition, recording and improvisation. Still, the performance itself is quite random. With evident experiment in the approach, there is no much of it left on the spot. The picturesque sound informs significantly spatial and visual capacity of the piece. However, inappropriate lightening and oversuggestive physical presence of the performers lowers the visual sensation. In other words, this setup fails to correspond to uncanny, speculative sound. Kith, Schist; slowing down the time experience certainly has a contemplative and meditative potential. In repetitive and long loops, it manipulates the real time. However, it does not fully immerse in the moment, but rather stretches it and brings to the levels of diffused. It aims to the bare experience rather than knowledge. Thus, it evokes the process of listening, more as a sensation but the full capture. The overall experience of the piece is much of short lived memory, like all these bits and traces of sounds and sceneries our mind passed through, had them, and lost again.