review: m.northam, y.dauby & t.koner @ STEIM

[Derek Holzer <derek@xxxxxx>]

Two sets at the Amsterdam establishment of instrumental experimentation, STEIM, 
last Thursday explored different aspects of engaging, incidental sound.

Northam and Dauby's set was a computer-assisted revisitation of the Grand Olde 
Tradition of ElectroAcoustics. Northam's activities centered around a wooden 
resonator box with a small microphone inside. Upon and around this box, metal 
shimmered and rustled, coaxed to life with fingers and violin bows. Dauby's 
contribution appeared largely in the form of granulated delays and 
deconstructions of the live input. (Besides the use of amplification,) 
Northam's approach reminded me of seeing Jeph Jerman live -- it is an approach 
which seeks to squeeze all available sounds out of a single object before 
moving on to the next. Compared with with the recordings Northam has put out, 
this performance at Steim was much "cleaner", each instant being very discreet 
from the others, rather than the (sometimes murky) processing and distortion he 
utilizes in the studio.


Having heard two very different sides of Thomas Koner, one typified by the 
(derivative???) compilation series "Swarm of Drones", the other being his very 
dance-floor oriented work as Porter Ricks, I wasn't sure what to expect at all. 
For his Steim engagement, Koner set up an 8-channel system through which he 
lulled the audience into a gentle slumber with pulsing, minimal waves. The 
concentration of both performer and audience were quite apparent -- Koner 
seemed just as intent on tracing where his sounds were coming from in the room 
as anyone else. As with most multi-channel systems, the results varied wildly 
depending on where you were sitting. I felt much more going on in the couple of 
speakers behind me than from other places in the room, for example. Perhaps 
Michael Northam got the most complete sound-image of all -- at the very 
beginning of Koner's set, he sat right down in the middle of the floor, put his 
chin on his chest, closed his eyes, and was quite visibly transported. 

Info: http://www.steim.nl/activity.html