Two-thousand-thirteen. That’s the last time I enjoyed a live Porcelain Raft show. It was in the dark velvety pit of Neumos at The Barboza on Capitol Hill.
For the encore number, Italian-born and New York-based musician Mauro Remiddi (A.K.A. Porcelain Raft) invited the audience to join him on stage as he played and sang. I remember standing sardined between strangers, swaying in shoegaze splendor among a sea of smiles.
The Barboza is one of the more cozy music venues I’ve been to in Seattle; hence, one of my favorite venues. I enjoy sharing intimate space with others, so I appreciate that Porcelain Raft shows tend to be at small-scale venues. Creating an intimate space is part of what makes experiencing Porcelain Raft so hypnotizing. Sunday night (April 30) in Ballard, Porcelain Raft entranced me for the third time. Remiddi is on tour for his third full-length album, Microclimate.
Stepping into the venue space at the back of Sunset Tavern was like stepping into an underwater world. Blue and fuschia hues filled the room and reflected from a sparkling disco ball overhead. Remiddi stood alone at the front of the stage playing washy guitar while soothing layers of multi-instrumental tracks with his tender falsettos. Every now and then, he kneeled down to tweak and turn knobs on pedals by his feet. He was wearing white and black patterned Vans high tops.
Remiddi’s live performance is a living organism. He floats Porcelain Raft adrift on time’s incessantly pulsing current and lets the music go where it may. Between songs, he wondered aloud what to play next, “The good thing about playing by yourself is that you can mix things up. There’s no drummer to say, “Naaaa, I don’t wanna do that one.”” Before starting the next song, he invites us to move closer. He does this a few times throughout the show – welcoming us into his creative space.
Porcelain Raft scratches my Cocteau Twins itch. Remiddi’s combinations of wet electronic beats and day-dreamy mesh of digital and acoustic sounds create an atmospheric, expansive ambiance — you feel like you’re floating. His falsetto vocals embody a vulnerability reminiscent of Jeff Buckley or Patrick James Grossi (AKA Active Child.) Perhaps that’s why Remiddi wants us to stand closer? Fully experiencing his music entails a reciprocal visceral openness.
YouTube
Porcelain Raft’s improvised cover of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Stool Pigeon Blues.”
After the show, I asked if he purposely chose small, intimate venues to play. Remiddi responded, “I don’t think you can separate…performance/music [from] the place…the space where the music is played is the room where the sound was meant to float. I wouldn’t play [in a] bigger room because my music wouldn’t make too much sense otherwise.”*
Remiddi talked to us between songs as he tuned his guitar. He shared that he woke up in a bad mood but was in a better mood because of us. “I don’t know what it is about Seattle. I love it.” I arrived at the Porcelain Raft show just in time to hear Remiddi say those words to the audience. If I could rewind time, I would have yelled across the room, “Mr. Remiddi, Seattle loves you, too!”
*You can read the full, unedited interview with Porcelain Raft on Odawni’s site here.–ed.
BTW, Spotify suggests Memoryhouse, Still Corners, Teen Daze and Small Black as artists similar to Porcelain Raft. May I suggest Washed Out, Thundercat, Poliça and The Radio Dept.
Photos and video: Odawni AJ Palmer
