BY CHRISTOPHER LEON, GLOBAL SERIES EDITOR
Jónsi + Alex / Riceboy Sleeps
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Dark Mofo
Federation Concert Hall, 15 June
Jónsi Birgisson, frontman of Icelandic ambient group Sigur Rós, and his partner Alex Somers, joined with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra to bring to life their original ambient album Riceboy Sleeps. Jónsi’s falsetto tones swirled and blended into the backing TSO chorus and on-stage smoke, creating a suitable bed of ethereal textures.
Alex toyed with samples and electronic sounds to create timed sound effects and subtle beats, laying the foundation for several works. As this layering of musical ideas and effects grew throughout the performance, it became somewhat difficult to distinguish between the distortion of Jonsi’s bowed guitar and the sound pressure level of the amplified performance itself. This tended to break the ambience for me, on occasion.
Different coloured lights illuminated from behind the performers and out into the audience, creating a surreal environment of moving silhouettes that danced around the walls of the concert hall amongst the smoke.
The concert ended with an unlikely sound and texture of a record scratch, or nails down a blackboard. This lingered on as musicians slowly left their places on stage, and disappeared through the darkened exits in silence. This was a visually stimulating conclusion – and in my opinion, would be an appealing way for all TSO concerts to end.
Pictured: Dark Mofo Waterfront Crosses, 2019, credit and courtesy Dark Mofo/Rémi Chauvin.
