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Sunday, March 02, 2008

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.

3 comments:

Don Pappy said...

Teague,
Awesome to hear that you made it to the event, and I'm glad to hear it was a success. Sorry I couldn't be there. You are most certainly invited to our next Listening Lounge. It's a much more scaled down version hosted at a member's house. Did you sign up for our email list?

Teague said...

Yeah, I really liked it. I read your name at the end of blurb as I was there with the headphones on, and said to myself "No, that couldn't be the Dan Poppy I know...or, actually, it has to be."

I meant to sign up for the email list at the event, but I just did now. I'll definitely come to listen, and maybe make something too.

Don Pappy said...

In case you didn't get the email, the next listening lounge is March 31. Let me know if you need/want more details.