This reviewer would gladly pay full admission to see LA’s High Places. It comes as a wonderful bonus to The Books’ tour that they have joined as a support. Taking tracks from High Places and 2010’s High Places vs. Mankind, the set never reaches any great heights. That said, their music, heavy on the bass and hard looped beats, is an enjoyable way to pass 45 minutes and leaves me disappointed that I missed their performance at last year’s Frankly! Festival.
The Books performances could be touted as multimedia performances, which frontman Nick Zammuto argues are integral into drawing people into the complex and at times jarring instrumentation. As the video for Group Autogenics I begins, it is difficult to argue with him. The almost psychedelic visuals composed of talking heads from an assortment of individuals is hilarious, bewildering and most of all, hard to look away from. So much so, it’s easy to forget the two immensely talented individuals more than happy to take a back seat to their lovingly crafted videos.
As Zammuto tells anecdotes about the discovery of the various tapes used for several tracks, he introduces Gene Back, a touring addition since their small tour run in early 2010 in anticipation of the release of last year’s The Way Out. Watching Back play guitar, keyboards and violin, it seems borderline impossible to understand how the show existed without him. To Zammuto andPaul de Jong it too must be a huge relief, as both stick to their respective guitar and cello for the entire evening.
It remains clear, however, that the most attention is paid to the video presentations. Much like the samples integrated into most tracks on The Books’ four albums, the videos are compiled of old, VHS-quality oddities that could only be found in a Lifeline or worse still, digging through piles of garbage. The videos, ranging from golf-instruction videos ( I Didn’t Know That ) to summer camp footage ( A Cold Freezin’ Night ) to an assortment of others, are elegantly entwined into the music they are accompanied to. The videos feel as composed and as thought out as the music they are partnered with. It is often hard to figure out whether this is a strange and amusing video or an analysis of the human condition. Perhaps they are both.
Much like The Books’ self-described ‘collage music’ which refuses to be shoehorned into any particular genre, there aren’t many performances quite like this one. The show feels intimate, an almost organic relationship between the audience and three humbled individuals. The Zoo may only have been half full tonight, but everyone there was witness to a unique musical experience, and a rare one at that.
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/27533/The-Books-High-Places-The-Zoo-Brisbane-19022011
