Time for thinking

Neil took me to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor at the O2 ABC tonight. Aye, I had never heard of them either before I met him. They are an experimental music collective (according to Wikipedia) and have a cult following. There were certainly many different ages and types of people there this evening. Neil enjoyed the gig but I can't say that I could tell one song from another to be honest. They were all long and with no vocals, and the musicians didn't talk between songs or introduce themselves at any point. I did think a lot about stuff all the way through it though. Like how did the musicians know how long to keep particular repetitions of sounds going? Sometimes it seemed to me like the same section of sound was repeating for minute after minute. Was there a hidden conductor somewhere deciding to make them keep playing the same noise until he decided they ought to move on to the next noise, or were they counting in their heads "this bit goes on for 35 repetitions"?

Black and white visuals accompanied the music and that was interesting too because it made me realise how much music can impact on your perception. For example at one point there were shots of snow covered suburban houses and streets that I felt were grim and bleak but then it dawned on me that it was because the dark music gave that impression. If the music had been jaunty and with sleigh bells those same scenes would probably have made me feel cheerier.