| Without question, one of the best live shows I've ever had the pleasure to witness has been Doseone, Boom Bip, Radioinactive, odd nosdam and why?, rocking the Mush Tour in the Spring/Summer of 2002. It was one of those rare truly transcendental live experiences. Naturally, I was excited at the prospect of the experience being captured on timeless DVD, thereby re-livable again and again. Sure enough, the Mush Records tour DVD doesn't disappoint. It also features Labtekwon, whose more traditional, short, yet still on-point set is engaging. Dose and Boom Bip's performance is ambient and captivating to the point of transporting me back to my experience seeing them live, and in turn back to the trip-out that is caused by their unbelievable rhythmic, spacy, other-worldly music. I'd say that this is a show that has to be seen to believed, but unfortunately for y'all, Dose and Boom Bip have retired their Circle set. Perhaps they will still play together in the future. All the DVD's segments are divided by short collages of fairly random footage from the road. None of it is very substantial, but it all fits in to the general makeshift spirit of the tour, and makes for fun little interludes. Reaching Quiet's live section is interesting as well - it's strange to hear these songs in this format, now that I've gotten to know them in their odd nosdam guise. In their live-band incarnation, they're altogether more angular, why? sounding possibly even more ridiculous. When he's not fucking around, Reaching Quiet can achieve a certain beauty, but it's all too often shattered by why?'s apparent lack of self-belief - this seems to be before he found himself comfortable with his earnestness - and so we get funny voices, characters, barbershop, chanting. cLOUDDEAD's set is the culmination of the DVD, what it all hangs on. They do not disappoint. It has always seemed to me that cLOUDDEAD came together initially as some kind of scatter-brain chance thing, and having stumbled upon breakthrough after breakthrough, the band eventually realised their own potential for making groundbreaking, dynamic music. By the time I saw cLOUDDEAD play the Mush Tour, their approach to their own material seemed to change perspective, and took on a form that was much more calculated and precise, working together in their threesome, rather than Dose and why? stumbling over each other like they did on the much-loved long-player. Sure, there was a certain aesthetic to that messiness, but the show they put on on this DVD is closer to Themselves' brilliantly dynamic sets, and all the better for it. The unsurpassable dub version of "JimmyBreeze" gets an airing, as well as a semi-hidden encore, a great rendition of "The Sound Of A Handshake," which rolls in after the credits. If you missed these shows, buy this DVD and be amazed. If you caught any of these shows, buy this DVD and be wistful and trip out again like you did the first time round. - Dot Alt |
DVD/Out Of Print