To purge its dark soul, through this month and next the plaça Catalunya placed, cultural space of Spanish bank Caja Madrid hosts a series of concerts by weird experimental music artists. It seems that the same light-sensitive sound manipulators that probed our minds with LEM now seek to amass us like iron-filings to a mysterious ‘Magnetic… Read more »
Tag: LEM
BEEN & GONE: LEM end – Institut Fatima nibble the fingers that feed them, Cargo go safari.
Can music experiment and engage at the same time? Can it remain individual and also reach a public without compromising that? Does it matter? LEM festival uses its experimental tag very liberally, but if there’s one thing that struck me this year it’s that it all depends on the space. La Fontana is a very ‘public’… Read more »
Purity Imperfect – Carlos Zingaro
For the second LEM concert held in Macba’s chilly auditorium, last night, ZNGR Electroacoustic Ensemble: Carlos Zingaro (in the middle) flanked by an equally serious Emidio Buchino (right) and Carlos Santos (left), met with a smattering of souls and an awestruck silence. A classically-trained violinist, Portuguese Zingaro is a LEM pioneer, having worked with the festival from the… Read more »
LEM review – Rules of the relationship
Murcof, aka Javier Corona, a rolly-polly Mexican computer musician and Phillippe Petit, a Frenchman on the edge were the ideal combination for a musical relationship – any relationship, in fact. Performing as part of festival LEM, there was the scent of vanilla, toothpaste and the CaixaForum’s auditorium was filled to bursting, to the point that… Read more »
Apocalyptic dance at LEM
Soizu: a freakishly good butoh performance that formed an unexpected part of LEM music festival. Held at the dance space la Caldera this outrageously disturbing act was made more so by the fact that many in the audience seemed non-plussed by it. On a sparse, ripped up landscape, to the grinding soundscape of Iker Ormazábal, formidable dancer… Read more »
LEM outline – Weird, without trying.
LEM! Barcelona’s established, experimental music festival c.1996! It mushroomed out of a clump of alternative spaces in the Gràcia area, later infiltrating more comfy institutions downtown such as Macba and CaixaForum. What to expect: A two week programme for *experimental* tastes. The best thing about it: Its raggedy coolness, off-beat but professional. The electronica and ‘cinematic’… Read more »