This extraordinary artist was part of the punk wave in Japan in the late 70s, after which she continued to elevate her artistic proposals. Four decades later, Phew gave her first performance in Montreal in front of an audience. Clearly, her international reputation had not reached Montreal before she came. Let’s hope she comes back, because what we heard at Wednesday’s FLUX festival at the Sala Rossa was a masterful performance.
This ageless woman (officially 65) invited us into a sonic narrative that began with soft vocals set against an electronic backdrop. This ambient, ghostly, spectral, dreamlike opening led us gently towards an intensification of sound frequencies and the introduction of synthesized rhythms drawn from popular culture (techno, reggaeton, jungle, drum’n’bass) and transformed by the composer in such a way that no direct link could be established. This is the mark of the best, who know how to transform quotations.
Increasingly pronounced rhythms punctuated the constructions. In real time, the simultaneous superimposition of several sources (beats and processed pre-recordings) resulted in an increasingly intense overall sound, a maelstrom punctuated by a blaze of horns, otherworldly voices, percussive machine-gun fire and industrial sounds. This fascinating web of sound grew heavier, peaked at the sound of a jet engine and then reversed. Lightening, elevation, evaporation, almost silence. The rhythm becomes minimalist, the tempo slower than a heartbeat, relatively discreet sounds intrude, string melodies float above, Phew’s voice re-emerges. The descent continues with the lapping of processed keyboard notes, then light percussion executed in minimalist metrics, all again wrapped in ghostly sounds.
For the finale, she had foreseen a rise in intensity, a return to stronger, more complex and faster rhythms, to stormy wind sounds that culminate in tornadoes. Against all expectations, (synthetic) piano chords accompany Phew’s voice, and the flying machine lands on the ground to the sound of a ballad close to a lament.
Great art, for sure.
