Aristophanes @ The Resident 4/13/16
While the playwright Aristophanes of ancient Greece concerned himself with comedy, the rapper Aristophanes 貍貓 of modern-day Taiwan cares more for carnage.
Born Pan Wei Ju, she played the final leg of her American tour in LA’s art district at Resident, a small intimate venue perfect for Aristophanes’ ambient yet menacing sound. Much of Aristophanes’ appeal lies in dichotomies like that; she stood at a harmless height of about five-feet with cute bleach blonde hair and a polite, soft-spoken speaking voice, but her tiny figure belies a titanic personality.
In the span of an hour, Aristophanes whined, screamed and sang through songs with topics ranging from sexual screaming (the Grimes produced “Scream”) to self-immolation as a form of protest (“If The Flowers Leave”). She knew most of us couldn’t understand her language, yet displayed no hesitancy in her delivery; those of us in the audience didn’t need subtitles to get the gist. Similar to MIA, she harnessed a variety of sounds, subjects and worlds to form a wavelength all her own; she remarked touring in a place as foreign as America to her gave her new-found inspiration.
A former teacher, Aristophanes said she’s left academia to spend more time recording, declaring a new LP may arrive this year. Many would see this as a sign of recklessness, but Aristophanes seems keen on imparting knowledge through lyricism rather than lectures.