Thurston Moore - The Union Chapel, London – 2/12/11
4/5
By: Joe Daniels
It is always a challenge to give an accurate review of an artist when they play the Union Chapel; it’s simply too gorgeous a venue. The problem is exacerbated in Thurston Moore’s case as the album he’s touring, Demolished Thoughts is just as remarkable as the architecture of the chapel: nuanced yet bombastic, subtle yet blissful.
So where, in any other venue, songs like ‘Blood Never Lies’ and ‘Circulation’ would sound amiable enough, smoothly gliding from cadence to cadence, here, they are idyllic and mesmerizing. Beck’s production skills on the album are transferred live by the inclusion of a violist and harpist; a welcome, if unlikely – given Sonic Youth’s usual penchant for chuggier instruments – addition to the line-up.
It’s not all intricacies and restraint though, with Moore’s rowdy debut solo effort, Psychic Hearts, given due attention. (It’s an album he went on to play in full the following night at Camden’s Electric Ballroom.) Songs like ‘Patti Smith Math Scratch’ and title-track ‘Psychic Hearts’ both feature wild freak-outs spun on for minutes, all played on acoustic guitars wired through some chunky fuzz pedals. It’s a curious move, but one that manages to tow the line between audacity and ridiculousness well.
Of course, this gig is a Thurston Moore gig, so there is some wiggle room for self-indulgence; tonight, taking the form of an extended poetry reading, and Moore’s own inane ramblings between songs: ‘Oh look, it’s a Christmas tree’, he says – utterly deadpan – of the gargantuan conifer dwarfing the stage. Such abandon is forgiven though, and tonight remains a testament to the quiet, nuanced brilliance of Demolished Thoughts, and Moore’s undying macabre sense of showmanship – topped off by the sumptuous surroundings of a North London chapel.
SETLIST: Blood Never Lies/ Mina Loy/ Fri/End/ Never Day/ Circulation/ Queen Bee and Her Pals/ January/ Orchard Street/ Book Thief (poem)/ In Silver Rain with a Paper Key/ Ono Soul/ Patti Smith Math Scratch ENCORE: Pretty Bad/ Psychic Hearts ENCORE II: Feathers
Artists in this article: Thurston Moore
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