Let’s be frank: Most music festivals are terrible. There is perhaps no worse way to ingest live performance than in the sweltering sun, in a field adjacent to a village of Port-a-Johns, in an environment as ecstatically corporate-branded as a NASCAR track. Thankfully there are still a few small-scale festivals out there, Basilica SoundScape chief among them, which put a focus on intimacy and adeptly curated content. This weekend the third edition of the event unfolded in Hudson, New York, taking place in Basilica Hudson, a converted factory close to the town’s Amtrak station. Organized by a savvy quartet — Pitchfork’s Brandon Stosuy, Brian DeRan, Tony Stone, and ex-Hole member Melissa auf der Maur — SoundScape brought together everything from experimental electronica (Tim Hecker) to raw punk (White Lung) and unexpected instrumental ensembles. Behind the stage itself, a massive textile painting by Sterling Ruby served as a performance backdrop. The venue was never overcrowded, with a side bar area decked out as a sort of cozily vintage cabin, decorated with paintings by Jim Krewson (including one depicting the Hudson Valley’s own Marina Abramovic, dressed as a Home Depot “Employee of the Month.”)
(Clockwise from top left): A dance performance by Helene Lesterlin and Jack Magai at Groundswell, "Marina Abramovic as Home Depot Employee of the Month" by Jim Krewson, and performances by Endless Boogie and Deafhaven / Photos by: Scott Indrisek
Friday and Saturday evening were packed with highlights and only the occasional misstep (New York’s Endless Boogie, who never rise above the level of any-bar-band-ever). Things got pleasantly weird beginning with the many-membered Gamelan Dharma Swara orchestra, who conjured a repetitive, mesmerizing lull that was periodically ruptured by spasms of dissonance (imagine someone trying to hypnotize you and then, right before you go under, throwing a cold beer in your face. In a good way). Tim Hecker followed, turning up the intensity and the volume — this is a man, after all, responsible for a track called “Incense at Abu Ghraib.” This is electronic music you don’t dance to so much as shiver along with, your very bones twanging with the bass; I haven’t been so concerned about a performance’s effect on my physical health since I last saw My Bloody Valentine, and Hecker’s set was somehow even more viscerally confrontational. (An especially resounding frequency during the final track found audience members nervously looking at their neighbors, perhaps for confirmation that the world was not actually ripping apart at its seams.)
Saturday’s programming veered more toward rock and metal, but also included a fairly low-key performance by Majical Cloudz that ended up being my personal favorite of the weekend. Front man Devon Welsh opened with an a cappella version of “This Is Magic,” his voice an amalgam of influences — Morrissey, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart, the eternally earnest Brendan Fowler — and his stage presence decidedly David Byrnian. Majical Cloudz’s set — in a darkened side room of Basilica, before a mostly seated audience — was pared down and heartbreaking, melodramatic without ever veering into embarrassing emo histrionics. From there, things got more chaotic on the main stage, with Vancouver-based White Lung shredding through many of the songs on their recent “Deep Fantasy,” front woman Mish Way a slinkily intimidating presence in red lipstick and a transparent dress. They were followed by Deafheaven, an anthemic and atmospheric metal band under the helm of singer George Clarke, who strutted and shrieked like some sex-kitten embodiment of Ian Curtis. Swans— lumbering and loud, their reputation cemented by glowing praise via Pitchfork in recent years — closed out the evening before the crowd decamped for an official afterparty at Half Moon, a lovable dive just up the street.
SoundScape’s programming was also augmented by an unrelated satellite event, Groundswell, which took part on Saturday at Olana, Frederic Church’s well-preserved mountain hideaway. Sculptural installations were staged in the woods and alongside hiking trails, culminating with a William Basinski performance against the very backdrop that had inspired the Hudson River School of painters. It was a nice addition to a weekend of art, culture, and small-town revelry, and a fitting companion to a music festival that values genuine experience over profits.
