Middle of what

Tangents followed.  They were the longest set of the night and presumably, given their entry in Wikipedia, the stars.  Certainly they have toured and variously lived internationally and recorded several albums and are a managed act.  There was an unfortunate delay with electronics to start, but such is digital life!  Then into a long set of hypnotic sounds moving through rises and falls and presumably improvised changes.  Structurally and even harmonically, I found it quite similar to Ben and Chris, but the style was more rocky.  I thought Radiohead and post-rock at the time, but not really.  This was cello, synth, piano/keys and drums.  The cello was a gloriously toned thing, variously pizz or bow, sometimes playing the role of bass, otherwise melody or counterpoint or pads or other fills.  The piano was sparse, scalar, chromatic, variously defining some of the backing.  The drums really held all, busy but quite soft in tone and that deep woof of the kick as with Chris, moving through rhythms and grooves, in many ways defining place.  There was a laptop, too, but not so prominent in tone, but no doubt essential in presence.  I occasionally heard percussion that wasn't being played on the drums and presumably other live or otherwise sampled sounds appearing softly, gently in support.   The set was very much the longest of the night.  I looked around to see nodding heads moving with grooves.  This was not so much jazz although clearly with plenty of jazz and classical training.  This sounded rockier, louder, and used such traditions, techniques and grooves, harmonies.  Thus post-rock.   I loved on some cello melodies and drooled on some sparse piano melodies of long intervals.  Minimalist, colourful, insistent, effectively repetitious.  Again those little-changing minimalist harmonies and simple scales (perhaps Bb-A-G-D /F) but then some deliciously complex solo piano drops that spelt jazz training. 

Thus the night ended. I thought Miles and Zappa and Radiohead during the night and thought of jazz history and I mused on the series title, Midpoint.  We are probably always at the midpoint of musical and cultural life.  This stuff never reaches an end, at least we hope.

Tangents closed the first evening of Midpoint at Ainslie Arts Centre.  Tangents comprised Adrian Lim-Klumpes (piano, keys), Peter Hollo (cello), Ollie Brown (electronics) and Evan Dorrian (drums).