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The Wisdom Of Harry

London Highbury Upstairs At The
Garage

    It's  ironic  that  Pete  Astor's  artistic  renaissance  has
coincided  with a downturn in his personal fortunes. In the '80s,
his  band  The  Weather Prophets were straitjacketed by a need to
make  commercial  music  for their major label paymasters. In the
'90s,  his  schizophrenic work as both Ellis Island Sound and The
Wisdom of Harry have made any such considerations irrelevant. The
result  is  that in the past 12 months Astor has been producing a
steady  supply  of inspired singles that have seen him expand his
palette  way  beyond anything he attempted in the early stages of
his career. The Wisdom Of Harry are characterised by a fractured,
intensely  beautiful  lo-fi sound that eschews songs in favour of
minimalist  electronica  and  half-heard tales of London lowlife.
Their  triumph  is  in  making  the  best  use  of  their limited
resources.  Most  of  their  songs  tonight  are underpinned by a
rudimentary  drum  machine  and  are  filled  out  with scratchy,
barely-audible  guitars  and dissonant samples. Yet despite - and
probably because of - this skeletal approach, The Wisdom Of Harry
are  able  to create a series of scuffed, unsettling soundtracks,
full  of  unexpected  jolts  of  noise and intense atmospherics -
backlit  by  still-life  projections. In 25 minutes, they build a
sound  that's  equal  parts Sparklehorse, Suicide and Underworld.
Held  together  by  the  ever-present throb of electrical static,
they navigate a sea of stabbed-out instrumentals, interspersed by
an  occasional  fragment  of  singing  or  rattle of bongo. Their
finale,  'Pure  Gold  Henry',  is  a  ten-minute hiss of menacing
drones and feedback that echoes from one side of the stage to the
other.  Now  he's been forced back on his own resources, Astor is
producing the best music of his career. The restrictions he finds
himself  governed  by  have  resulted  in  a unique and loose-fit
experimental sound. You hope that someone offers him a deal soon.
But maybe he's just happy as he is.


James Oldham