No Silence, Please! – Valerinne & Man Ray films @ Centrul Ceh

Joia trecuta, la Centrul Ceh, a avut loc un eveniment destul de interesant ca si concept, o proiectie de film avangardist din anii 20 apartinand lui Man Ray, insotita de muzica post-rock live, interpretata de trupa Valerinne. Fiind atrasa de ambele laturi, atat de cinematografia suprarealista/dadaista, cat si de post-rock, eram nerabdatoare sa fiu acolo si sigura ca voi avea parte de o ora placuta. Dar am sa incep cu cateva detalii despre ambele proiecte, intrucat sunt probabil mai putin cunoscute.

Valerinne este un proiect ambitios de post-rock instrumental din Bucuresti. Infiintata anul trecut, trupa a concertat deja la noi cu trupe precum Tides from Nebula sau Maybeshewill. Ca gen abordat, mentioneaza post-rock / instrumental / shoegaze / metal, dar cred ca va veti putea face o idee mai exacta ascultand pe bandcamp albumul “Kunstformen der natur”, un debut care ar trebui sa va trezeasca curiozitatea de a-i vedea pe scena. Daca se va intampla asa, sunteti norocosi pentru ca tocmai sunt in turneu prin Europa impreuna cu Environnments – gasiti datele si locatiile pe pagina lor de facebook. Daca sunteti in Bucuresti, ii puteti vedea chiar saptamana viitoare, pe 27, in Control Club, in deschidere la Our Ceasing Voice, sau pe 11 aprilie, in Panic! Club, alaturi de Heirs, Ascetic, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving si Dorena.

Man Ray a fost un american stabilit la Paris, exponent al dadaismului si al suprarealismului, care a trecut de la pictura la fotografie, apoi la scurt-metraje. Filmele sale se inscriu in curentul numit “Cinéma Pur”, care se axa pe miscare, ritm, compozitie, efecte optice – in final, pe experienta emotionala mai degraba decat pe actiune sau personaje. Din nou, as prefera sa fac o trimitere la filmele sale in loc sa vorbesc eu prea mult despre ele – toate se pot urmari online, pe ubu.com. La Centrul Ceh, am putut urmari: ‘Le Retour a la Raison’, ‘L’etoile de Mer’, ‘Emak-Bakia’ si cel mai lung film regizat de el, ‘Les Mysteres du Chateau de De’.

Intorcandu-ma la seara de joia trecuta, am aflat ca ‘No Silence, Please!’ este un proiect care dureaza deja de doi ani, imbinand filmul mut cu muzica live din genuri din cele mai diferite. Valerinne au interpretat muzica special compusa pentru acest eveniment, si am fost avertizati de la inceput ca va fi zgomotoasa – intr-adevar asa a fost. Marturisesc cu parere de rau ca nu stiam de acest proiect al Centrului Ceh, al carui istoric pare inedit si demn de interes, dar mai vazusem ceva similar la Year of No Light cu proiectie de film mut (Vampyr). Muzica interpretata de Valerinne a fost intr-adevar tare, bazata mai mult pe ritm si mai putin pe pasaje care sa induca ascultatorului o stare emotionala. Exact din acest motiv mi s-a parut perfecta pentru visual-urile alese, care pareau decupate dintr-un vis, insotite de fraze misterioase (‘Un coup de des jamais n’abolira le hasard’), avand o patina de vechi. Opozitia dintre ritmurile de post-rock agresive, spre metal, si imaginile acestea mi s-a parut a avea un efect futurist bine ales.

In afara de acestea, am apreciat sala eleganta, lipsa oricarei lumini in afara unor simple lumanari aprinse pe margine, care, chiar daca mi-a dat peste cap orice plan de fotografie, a ajutat la crearea unei atmosfere. Per total a fost o seara reusita, cu o trupa pe care o voi revedea la evenimentul din aprilie.

Ana Maria C / multumiri Lex A.

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Last Thursday, at the Czech Centrum, an extremely interesting event took place, a projection of avant-garde movies from the ‘20s directed by Man Ray, accompanied by a live post-rock act, Valerinne. As I am drawn both to surrealist / dadaist cinema and to post-rock, I felt anxious to be there and spend a pleasant hour. But I will begin with some insights on both projects, because they are probably less-known.

Valerinne is an ambitious instrumental post-rock project from Bucharest. It started last year, but already shared the stage with big names like Tides from Nebula or Maybeshewill, as the local opening act. The musical genre they approach is post-rock / instrumental / shoegaze / metal, but I think it’s safe to skip labels and go straight to their album, “Kunstformen der natur” on bandcamp – a strong debut which should make you at least curious to see them live. If this is the case, you’re very lucky, since they’re on a European tour with Environments – you can find the dates and location on their facebook page. If you’re in Bucharest, you can see them no latter than next week, on the 27^th , at Control Club, opening for Our Ceasing Voice, or on 11 of April , at Panic! Club, with Heirs, Ascetic, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving and Dorena.

Man Ray on the other hand was an American artist settled in Paris, a contributor to Dada and Surrealism movement, who did paintings, photography, next, short movies. His cinematic experiments fall under “Cinema Pur”, based more on movement, rhythm, composition, optical effects – in the end, on the emotional experience of the viewer, rather than on action or characters. Again, I prefer to link you a website where you can just watch the movies I’m talking about, rather than to talk about them myself – you can find them online, at ubu.com. At the Czech Centrum, they screened 4 shorts: ‘Le Retour a la Raison’, ‘L’etoile de Mer’, ‘Emak-Bakia’ and his longest movie, ‘Les Mysteres du Chateau de De’.

Going back to last Thursday, I found out that ‘No Silence, Please!’ is an older project, that came to be two years ago and presents to the audience old silent films mixed with music from various genres. Valerinne play some songs especially composed for this event, and we have been warned that it would be loud – indeed, it was. I must confess I regret not knowing about this project before, whose past live acts seemed worthy of more attention, but I have seen something similar when Year of No Light accompanied by a mute movie (Vampyr) played in Romania two summers ago. The music Valerinne played was indeed noisy, based more on rhythms than on emotional passages. Precisely for that reason, it seemed perfect for the chosen visuals, which seemed cut out of a dream, accompanied by mysterious phrases (‘Un coup de des jamais n’abolira le hasard’), that reeked of old vibes. The opposition between the aggressive post-rock / metal rhythms and those images gave off a well-chosen futuristic effect.

Besides all this, I appreciated the elegant venue, the lack of any light source (except for some simple candles near the walls) created a special atmosphere, in spite of maybe ruining some photographic attempts. Overall it was a successful evening, with a band I will see again, in April.

Ana Maria C / special thanks to Lex A.