Meredith Monk: MEMORY GAME

@ Pioneer Works 5/5/23

to simply intone on meredith monk’s laundry list of creative accomplishments through mortal writing feels like an understatement to the effortlessly gleeful, experimental aura she brings to any room she enters in real life. i found this out at pioneer works in red hook, nyc on may 5, 2023. at about 8:12pm.

to be honest with you, this is the first time i’ve ever written about a live experience related to classical music because i’m not usually found within these spaces. this is bound to change rapidly after i actually start going to these experimental transgender choir rehearsals in atlanta i keep missing - i’m an alto if you were wondering.

historically what has ignited me to write as a rock journalist is harsh, unexpected, and usually accompanied by an unpredictable crowd ready to shift bones. attempting to archive that indescribable energy through writing has always been a personal goal when discussing live events.

meredith monk at pioneer works took me out of my 7 year hiatus from seriously reviewing shows because d*mn, that performance gave me the same emotional catharsis i received from seeing death grips live when i was 16 years old. (but with less bruising and sweat.) and the craziest part was that everyone was seated.

it’s not everyday that you emerge from a cloud of w**d smoke to see a phone screen glow whisper to you that meredith monk is doing a sold out live show tomorrow and you had no idea that it was happening because it’s hard to keep notifs on for everyone when they update songkick tour dates (or however people find out about live shows at this point lol.) (instagram, i guess.) i was honestly so geeked at the time that i misread the instagram story i saw with the flyer for the entire festival that the meredith monk event was connected to and was under the impression that meredith monk herself had posted that she was playing this show with nu jazz as the backing band, tagging them. wasn’t the case but let’s be real, that would’ve been crazy hahaha. but they should work together tbh. i saw nu jazz play at IRL gallery a while back and it was fantastic.

long story short i freaked out and was like how do i get into this f*cking sold out meredith monk show the day before the event like guyyysss it’s essential.. you don’t understandddd... and pioneer works pulled through. so thank you pioneer works for making it happen. i can now say that greta and i were listed at the meredith monk gig for being meme page admins.

so thanks for laughing w/ us :)

the evening was a total whirlwind, obviously i was late to meet greta at her apartment beforehand to smoke because i had consumed a vietnamese iced coffee earlier in the day and was having stress sh*ts while trying to decide what to wear to this event. this was the closest thing to going to church i could think of, so duh last minute i’m freaking out over a cardigan or something, right? and yeah the rumors are true, i ended up wearing a white collared button down with a black cardigan, and black denim pants. bc i was like, i’m taking myself seriously for meredith, right?

so then after drinking like a gallon of water to cure myself i rolled 2 pink blazy susan joints for the road, and simply hopped on the wrong bus to greta’s. eventually the bus hit something mysterious and was at a halt for too long imo so i got off. after that i realized it was the wrong bus anyway. so then ultimately i was somewhere miscellaneous in r*dgewood stoned off my a** while also trying to haul a** to see effing meredith monk! like!!! everyone move out of my wayyyyyyyyy!!!!! i’m going to be late for meredith monk! okay? our initial plan was to get there right at doors so we’d be in the front hahaha

eventually i got to greta’s and she opened her front door wearing an entirely sheer dress, like belly button on full display. and it made me think like ‘why wasn’t i showing more skin for meredith monk?’ but greta ended up changing her outfit so we would come across as more traditionally respectful or whatevs in a classical music setting (even though the belly button is the original portal to the universe, is special/should be on display at important events.) (not me though, i’m self conscious.) but the second we found out that pioneer works was in red hook we had to order an uber fr. liiike lickety-split

our eta was 8:12 and the show started at 8 so we were nervous but um, letting god do their thing… i honestly barely remember anything about the uber drive over because greta and i were just gabbing in the back seat.

somehow we arrived just in time to hit our elfbar vapes outside for 30 seconds really fast, and still made it inside before she’d come onstage. the presence was wild - everyone seated, dimmed lights, large brick enclosure. like a pimp my ride version of how i imagine kate bush’s wickham farmhouse studio with brick floors and stone walls once was. even the chatter of everyone sounded unreal in the room.

as greta and i settled into our seats, meredith emerged with the most abstract silhouette of red silk i’d ever seen. but quickly before we get into the actual performance, how did we get here?

if you’ve been shown meredith monks music by someone else i’m sure they were interesting and of note, right? it’s a special sound. knowledge of meredith was passed down to me by my friend lilith who is a really talented oil painter among other things. we met on tumblr but both lived in georgia growing up and had mutual friends … and in 2021 we recorded this EP together in a couple of nights (in a hollow brick building! haha) (we used the very same synthesizer outkast used to record aquemini on, with a UFO drawing they left behind on the right side and everything. i don’t want to doxx my friend who owns it, but thank you - you know who you are lol.)

honestly everyone should make a card for their friend who showed them meredith monk that says “thank you for showing me meredith monk” on the front. today!

when i first heard Memory Game in march 2020 i couldn’t have predicted how these compositions would soon get me through the initial shock of covid lockdown, or just how quickly i’d grow to spend an almost embarrassing amount of time with them - which i’ll continue to do happily. with that being said, the live version blew what i’d previously heard out of the water and allowed for complete re-analyzation of why this almost alien sound resonated with me so deeply in the first place. this music i had once associated with taking a walk to my version of walden pond in the suburbs of georgia on a regular basis proved to have a similar effect on my brain to when i’m at the club in nyc, studying the blade. the double edged sword of understanding music production is sometimes annoying during the live listening process but nonetheless beautiful in it’s own regard. but despite the lack of quantized hi-hats i still found myself not only wanting to dance, but wanting to think too. lol, i’m such a sl*t for polyrhythms, i know this about myself. i had to stand up and move around in the back behind everyone sitting. and meredith’s choreography delighted me in ways i wasn’t expecting, she hit the dab at 80 years old. and not in a corny way, it was pure showmanship. the control of movement was honestly so inspiring - both physically and vocally. every note was met with new power, yet it sounded almost identical to the studio recording i’d originally fallen in love with. but seeing that synergistic exchange of everyone working to pull off such ambitious pieces live was wild and special, i saw it radiate this incredibly energy (an energy that when put flush against brick walls sounded quite nice!) and i cried! i cried twice during migration. but after migration i got up and danced ahahah

i rarely cry at the club… but when i do it’s related to a polyrhythm sounding just right. and if i’m crying at the club for a different reason the polyrhythms will cut through the fog and show me the way, capiche? so when i hear that kind of thing happening within layers of live vocals… i go nuts! i go absolutely ballistic. i love it. i cry!

i also love when laughs are utilized in music. meredith’s work cements this opinion for me. maybe laughter is the best medicine.

meredith monk b2b elysia crampton b2b why be b2b chino amobi b2b deli girls b2b young nudy b2b marie davidson event at b*ssa n*va c*v*c cl*b when?

the event should be called “hahahaha”

laughing track mini playlist to further explain my b2b concept:

i could write essays about the through lines of all of these songs but i’ll let you enjoy making the connections for yourself.

but in conclusion, heeeehhaaahahehe ha hey hehe hawwww.

of course i like meredith monk, and i love kate bush’s donkey noises on the dreaming too. how can you hate on a b*tch with vocal capabilities inline with yma sumac but w/ the experimental qualities of a gertrude stein poem? period.

:)

thank you again meredith monk and pioneer works for a beautifully unexpected night, it rocked my world. plus i’m still processing seeing fever ray on the 3rd at terminal 5 w/ christeene… a highly saturated week for music! maybe i’ll write about that soon.

always around for a chat - kaitlinsimotics@proton.me

/ twitter: @semioticsfan

/ instagram: @gallerypeace / @katebush.420