About Unsound: Reviews: A-Space/Sean O'Donnell

About Unsound: Reviews: February 1997 at A-Space by Sean O'Donnell

From: "Sean O'Donnell" <sodonne@vm.temple.edu%gt;
Subject: Re: [phiba-improv] UNSOUND / Kosugi
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 12:33:55 -0500

Toshi et al.:

David Forlano and I attended the UNSOUND performance at the A-Space last night. David and I agreed that this performance was worth seeing and here's why:

The ears of the UNSOUND trio were righteously tuned into their own vibe last night. The group simultaneously performed and recorded itself, processing and manipulating the audio residues of violin, Chapman Stick, thumb piano, and a bent brass pipe to create a lingering, eerie, and ethereal wash of sound.

Overall, the performance took the form of musical and theatrical improvisation. The first 20 minutes to half-hour of performance consisted of Captain Mikey and Jim Speer generating metallic yawnings and low creakings that sounded like the aches and groans of an old seafaring vessel. Speer wore a black overcoat and Cpt. Mikey wore a yellow raincoat and rubber boots. Both stood opposite one another on either side of a white sheet hung from the ceiling that fully concealed the few feet of space between them. Barely perceptible on the sheet was the white outline of a violinist.

The course of Speer and Cpt. Mikey's sonic voyage veered when the Captain pulled on a red ski mask, the modifications to which included a makeshift pair of bunny ears and a cyclops eye. Speer and Cpt. Mikey traded words to create a coming of age story about a child who grows up to become a "warm, gooey, and infamous international banker." During Speer and Cpt. Mikey's dialogue, a disembodied female voice repeatedly interrupted, adding an eerie suspicion that there just might be somone behind the white curtain.

UNSOUND's performance ended rapturously replete with revelating strobe lights and the display of Speer and Cpt. Mikey's foil and saran wrap angel wings. A greater discovery was that of the performer behind the curtain (I must apologize as I did not get the name of this individual. Please tell me, someone.) The strobe lights illuminated the white sheet from behind and revealed the outline of a violinist. This was a very effective muscial move on the part of UNSOUND in the sense that it contributed to the evolution of their performance. Once the outline of the violinist was projected onto the sheet it was much more evident that there was a third active musical component to the group. I found myself rethinking the way I had listened throughout the performance, and discovered that the way I listen and what I think I hear is greatly affected by what I see. That is, visually concealed, the sounds of the violin are perceived in greater isolation from the electronic sounds. Once the violinist was illuminated, I became aware of her performance as a autonomous component of the overall musical event rather than a transient harmonic.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that the use of the white sheet/strobe lights to conceal and later illuminate the violinist (a female musician) is an interesting way to dramatize the history of women in music especially where electronics are used. That is, although more women are becoming involved in electronic music, they are still not nearly as well represented as their male counterparts. If feminist commentary on the emergence of female performers in electronic media was the intent of UNSOUND in constructing this performance then ROCK ON UNSOUND, if not, then rock on intentional fallacy!

Sean O'Donnell