MUSIC IN THE CITY. AETHER: SOUND CLASH! AN ECLECTIC EVENING

When did you see an experimental surf band, a raunchy punk band and a minimal electro DJ on one night? Never? I know I didn’t. Until last Friday that is: somewhere deep down in southern Rotterdam, Foundation B.a.d was celebrating their first year of Aether: Tones and Talks evenings. For the occasion they dubbed the night Aether: Sound Clash! A clash indeed.

 
The past Aether evenings – seven so far – were not so much about listening to music as well as discussing it. What they did was invite a couple of experimental artists nobody really knew about, listen to what they had to offer, and discuss it afterwards. Sort of a talk show. As said, this particular night was different because of their anniversary. No talks, just sounds. Nothing really experimental but eclectic nonetheless. And yes, a clash.

First up was VRIL, a surf band of kinds that sounded pretty good, but to be honest I almost entirely missed it because I had a little chat outside with Hidde van Schie, one of the initiators of Aether. Why do they organize these kind of evenings? “Well first of all because we like to know more about some musicians we're interested in. It’s all about curiosity to me. That starts with ourselves but we hope we can put off our curiosity on other people. It’s all about being open to new kinds of music.”

Next up was Anne Frank Zappa - a notorious Rotterdam rock band - which was quite a contrast to the experimental surf (?) band preceding it, and even more to the deejay afterwards. Nothing experimental here, I would rather use the words hard and good. They put punk where it is supposed to be, in your face. Some people enjoyed it, some didn’t know quite what to make of it since they were drawn to the party by prospect of a minimal DJ or a surf band. Maybe it opened their eyes, maybe it didn’t, it surely blew them away.

The evening was ended with a deejay set by Jason Coburn, also involved in foundation b.a.d. People seemed to enjoy it, but minimal techno isn’t really my cup of tea, so I decided on the campfire outside. As the flames warmed our minds and made us ponder the coherence of the evening and the nature of existence, inside visual artist Karin Arink was dancing the night away. There surely was something for everyone.



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