Live Review from Underground 94:
Setlist:
1. Subtle Knife
2. Across Morpheus’ Palm
3. Giving Away Gizmo
4. Distraction
5. False Hope
6. Papercut in Your Eye
7. Personal Demons (Encore)
The kind of music that Dark Himaya plays could be said to rest on one thing – atmosphere. Every element of their music is essential in contributing to a moody, synaesthetic soundscape that unquestionably stems from their very canny use of instrumentation and vocals, set against the rudimentary pop-song structure. This was clearly something that had connected with their past audiences, as there was the biggest turnout I’d seen for the first band of a night. Subtle Knife began with a very mellow intro on the keys, and it is immediately evident that Ivy has reallygot a set of pipes, moving into some nicely structured harmonies between her and Aileen, with the bridge having mainly downstroked chords (– some punk roots showing, perhaps?)
Across Morpheus’ Palm was introduced as being loosely based on the character, and was followed by some very John Frusciante/Lou Reed –esque use of the guitar; i.e. not as a leading instrument, but for backing effects, really underscoring the brevity in their music. Further accentuating how clued in they’ve been to pop culture in the past 20 years, Giving Away Gizmo was announced as being based on the character from Gremlins. Unlike the mogwai, however, the song was less cute than it was deep and brooding, beginning with a smooth bassline and contrastingly abrasive guitar work, and a very hummable bassline during the chorus. Distraction and False Hope served to further emphasise the synergy created by the band – semi-minimalist in terms of ornamentation, making every effect used significant.
Papercut in Your Eye is one song that could really be taken up several notches by using some deliberately set up lighting or video, a la the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, with some frantic chords and very dark/murky notes, backed up by a solid backbeat. The encore which they said they’d “try to do”, began with a highly delayed guitar, and the notable use of drums for only accents, and not fills, set against very smooth bass, really bringing out the ‘maya’ (Hindi for illusion/magic) in Himaya.
Shashwati
Performances:
