Sound art

Eric heard about an event this evening put on by the DC Listening Lounge, an informal group that makes audio pieces. It sounded pretty cool (and only a few blocks away), so we went to check it out.

The show was held in a house that's been converted into some sort of church/community center. There were a few parts to the event, including some experimental-ish live music. The centerpiece, in my mind, was a series of audio pieces representing the four quadrants of DC -- contributors gathered sound around the city and then put them together into listening stations for NW, NE, SE and SW. There was a shopkeeper talking about his work and singing some of his favorite pop songs, a guy getting a root canal, people slaughtering chickens in their backyard, etc. When I took a radio narrative class in college, I remember the prof saying that audio tends to be more immersive than video, and I felt that in listening to these pieces.

This was exactly the kind of creative thing that I love to find, especially in my neighborhood. I thought I might see Morgan and Cameron there, because they live nearby and I worked with them back at Carleton's KRLX. Didn't see them, but I did run into three other people from Carleton, and two other Carls who weren't there contributed pieces (it was Dan Poppy's root canal that you could listen to). I guess this is our sort of thing.

Side note: I spotted someone there wearing an old school fanny pack in a fashionable manner. They're coming back, people! Hope they're not bringing Technotronic with them.