Lindstrøm Is Dreamy, Spacey, Dancey

By Kim Bellware in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 15, 2010 7:40PM

As an artist and producer, Hans-Peter Lindstrøm isn't known for making terribly practical music: his opuses are wordless soundscapes full of intricate electronic arrangements that stretch anywhere from ten to 30 minutes at a time--a challenge for even the most patient of listeners. Yet instead of being unapproachable, Lindstrøm's music is fantastically listenable (and very fun).

When the towering, wisp-thin Norwegian began his hour long set at the Empty Bottle Sunday night, the crowd was initially unsure he had even started. The subtlety and unpredictability easily draw listeners in to his orbit of music that, in the wrong hands, could very easily become background noise. Lindstrøm grew the first "movement" from a series of electronic purrs that snuck up on the audience so imperceptibly that by the time it had become a full-blown body shaking groove of layered bass lines, heavy beats and tweaked effects, it was hard remember that the loose and disparate noises that formed it had even existed.

"Cosmic disco" has been thrown around when describing Lindstrøm's work, though he never commits too heavily to any one style, even in the space of a single song; and unlike disco or more conventional dance music, a Lindstrøm track doesn't give away too many hints as to where it will go next. Throughout his set, the expanding and retracting effects were constant surprises, and even the volume and intensity of a particular element would blow up or shrink without warning. Amazingly, Lindstrøm's arrangements are also the neatest ones out there; he's efficient, even when the arrangements are complex.

Though he wasn't touring with his collaborator from this year's Real Life Is No Cool,
fellow Norwegian Christabelle Solale, Lindstrøm did weave pieces of the track "Lovesick" into a larger musical scheme that included jungle beats, burping Dubstep and an effect of horns and brass flattened out. If it all sounds weird, it was--but only a little bit. Lindstrøm feathered his effects into one another so that noting jutted out oddly, all the while keeping at least one hand on a knob or button while bobbing his head and rocking like a man possessed.

We expected Lindstrøm to slip offstage as unassumingly as he had stepped on after he wound the music down. Instead, he leaned into the mic and announced "Thank you!" in a voice that was huge, booming and not at all what we had expected. Predictions, it seems, are one of the best things to bring to a Lindstrøm show because he'll grab them from you, and toss them right out the window.