Cotton + Billawtm
Metaphysical Circus Tour 2004

That you can create trance-dance from music we know - that you can create music from trance-dance is a totally new story.

A theramin is a metal rod that generates an energy field around it. The movement of objects in that field is translated into sound via a synth board. Cotton plays theramin by moving her hands and body like a minimalist wizard (or like the Japanese witch that she is) weaving the future. At times she takes/finds one clean movement - like a simple rock-step, a swing of the arms and replays it (and its sound), over and over to an increasingly complex backing from the band.

In doing so she begins to imprison one moment in time - and take it deeper and deeper into other dimensions of experience. This is bio-jamming taken to a level I've never yet seen in this country. Stay with it and it changes the brain.

(A Zen master would talk about attention, focus and relaxation. Cotton would probably call it beer and smokes. Beer and smokes are almost the 6th and 7th members of the band. But there's a lot of beer and smokes in this town and they don't play like she does.)

The synergy of the band is awesome in these times. There is a communion between Cotton + Bill that is gloriously evident in every breath they take and every sound they make. Monolab plays theramin too with a passionate energy, strength and control that is beautiful. And then sometimes at the climaxes he rocks full on headbangs into the field - imagine the true sound of psych-rock direct from the head! The self-effacing Pers (how did he escape my camera) comes out on bass creating and recreating the horizons of this journey and Ed tripped the percussion with strong, solid, playful beats.

And I tell you truly, from the complex multi-layered landscape of sound, ghost shapes emerge and tell me beautiful things that I've whisted for, forever.

And sometimes it just wildly rocks and I really wanna dance.

Satori 20/7/04