Something unfortunate happened to Alex Zhang Hungtai last week. As he wrote on his blog, there were problems getting his band from Berlin to New York to play a pair of shows (one a late-night outing at Mercury Lounge in Manhattan, the other at Glasslands in Brooklyn) and he found himself unable to play his new double album “properly” in a live setting. Rather than cancelling, he decided to do something risky. With some local friends he performed the new albums in an improvised way that, as he put it, presented the work not in its recorded form, instead endeavoring to “strip it down to its essence and core.” Mercury Lounge was dedicated to exploring the bluesy, aggressive sound of Drifters and Glasslands explored the impressionistic heartbreak of Love Is The Devil. This all sounded too interesting to pass up so I checked out Glasslands last Friday night not knowing what to expect.
I suppose I should be upfront that, now midway through 2013, Drifters/Love Is The Devil is my favorite album of the year. Love in particular is a record I have been playing multiple times a week (or even a day), and still get completely lost in. Together the discs comprise a sprawling journey I still feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of after more than 100 listens. But what was going to be performed tonight had unpredictability that comes with improvisation, which made me all the more excited.
Hungtai came out shortly after 10 p.m. with Edwin White (Tonstartssbandht, EOLA) and Jakub Alexander (Heathered Pearls), all three opting to sit on the floor of the stage to get closer to their layout of pedals and sequencers. With his partners providing a foundation of gentle loops and drones, Hungtai spent the evening only playing guitar; any vocals (all wordless) were provided by one of his partners. It was strange… though only a few brief moments were recognizably from the record this felt like a genuine performance of Love Is The Devil. It’s a record that feels so much like a window into a specific time and place, and Hungtai’s playing brought me into the same headspace. Still, there was an amazing feeling that came when what I’m sure was guitar line from “Alone At The Danube River” pierced through the mist of sound. As the trio played under the glow of the strange stalactite-esque lights hanging throughout Glasslands, the delicacy and beauty of the performance became more noticeable. Small shifts in sound, or recurring motifs grew in strength, and the rare occasion Hungtai lifted his head brought gravity after lengthy periods of intense stillness.
All this makes me a little frustrated at how awful the audience was. I was in the front row, directly in front of Hungtai and next to a massive speaker, and could hear people talking loudly right behind me. I can only imagine how distracting and discouraging some people talking close to the stage were, and during a large uproar of people in the back near the bar the band abruptly stopped. Hungtai and his one-off band smiled at each other and looked happy with things regardless, thanked audience a little sheepishly, and took off. I could go on more (and did before I deleted the graph) about the disrespect from the audience, and how it’s a problem that I’ve found frequently at shows in Brooklyn for some reason, but it’s not worth the energy. This show was something really special and many people there would have agreed. I’m looking forward to seeing a more traditional Dirty Beaches set the next time he comes around, but I think this is how I’ll always remember the spirit of Love Is The Devil: Hungtai on the floor, head down, and bathed in red light, evoking such fragility and pain with just a guitar.
