Mono @ Underworld - 09 Nov 2006
- Posted on November 9, 2006 3:06 PM
- 0 comments
Mono are a guitar laden instrumental rock band from Japan. They are pretty good at what they do, that is semi-long to quite long quiet/loud/quiet songs. It's now the second time I've see them live, and I was not particularly impressed last time I saw them. But that's nothing to do with them. They provide a type of songs to an audience that likes this type. I also like this type. I love Mogwai, and particularly the fact that each of their albums bring surprises new surprises. They managed to not get stuck with song patterns that could be easily reused over and over again, generating a collection of records that would be slight variations on a theme. And this is exactly what Mono seem to have gotten into.
Mono build beautiful melancholic melodies. When they start to apply the first layer of sound to the architecture of a song, you get goose bumps. Typically, the two guitarists create a subtle urban landscape where concrete buildings are slowly decaying, you can see the cracks on the surface and feel the metal armature rusting inside. The bass and drums come in. The melody remains the same, layers are added to it while seasons succeed to seasons. The cracks feel the effect of time over weather and you can feel a building is about to collapse. Distorted staccato over a wall of sound, Mono's trademark. The melody remains the same. It's powerful, but you know when and where something is about to fall apart.
And you know that somehow it will return to calm again, and you can get the length of the storm.
A couple of songs based on this recipe would be fine, but after 1.5 hours of it and still no surprises and no hope for it, that was enough. Their fans loved the gig, and for good reasons : the set was impeccable, they have a good stage presence, and they properly rock out!
In another hand, the opening band was a good surprise. Imagine some hooded monks wearing bronze-like masks, playing a 45 minutes set with no breaks of yummy Isis-esque loud and noisy gripping metal. That made my day!
http://myspace.com/ourmaninthebronzeage
by Ben Levy
Tags
concert, gig, mono, music, seatwave
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