THE ART OF NOISE
Hammersmith Odeon, London
AT least this was something of a
special occasion, being the first time in a long time that I've actually
fallen asleep on the job. It was during what else but “Moments In
Love", introduced by Ms Dudley as “a song that some people get married
to and others put on brylcreem to," And some of us just have a wee doze.
This reaction, of course, may be just what the increasingly frustrating
Art Of Noise are after. They certainly weren't about to induce too much
grooving in the aisles with a one--hour set made up of their minor hits
and major fillers, all wrapped up in a stage presentation that
occasionally moved up a gear to the downright mundane.
Basically, J. J. on the keyboards
and fairlights is Tom Dolby's kid brother who hopes that if he works
hard enough on his scales he might eventually get a proper job with the
LSO, while Anne Dudley is occasionally brilliant on the piano but more
often looks desperately in need of a lectern as she makes her very
serious announcements from the stage and then waves her arms around to
conduct the backing singers who are no doubt available for all good
barmitzvahs and wakes. Somehow, it all seems designed to IMPRESS.
Somewhere, it all falls flat on its face.
Maybe it's just that AON "tunes"
don't stand a chance of moving from the party bedroom to the live
environment without losing their basic intelligence on the way. Maybe
it's the obvious tack of emotion that turns "Moments Of Love" into such a
bore, and it's certainly the glaring absence of even a token Max
appearance that makes "Paranoimia” such a dirge. The Art Of Noise will
always make interesting noises on vinyl but live they don't really have
anything there to avoid the timewarp trap and are thus a waste of time.
Too much art, not nearly enough Noise.
BARRY McILNENEY
