DVD - Aural Terrains
Behind the acronym KGB hide Kim Cascone, Guido Henneböhl and Brendan Dougherty, all well-known musicians and researchers in the contemporary digital-electroacoustic scenes. This combo - founded in 2004 - stands out for their use of field recordings and processed sounds in performances. In this recording, created at an abandoned station of the National Security Agency in Berlin, those obtained using "objets trouvé", metal constructions and contact microphones clearly stand out, along with the traditional instruments used. The audio environment, which lasted all of two days, is dedicated to the memory of David Tudor, himself a composer who was interested in flexible and complex sound imagery, with polyhedric combinations of several layers and inserts. Purposely - for the occasion - the trio abandon many of their usual standards, opting for a more open and improvisational score, supported by their audience's contributions, by manipulations made with MAX/MSP and a homemade set-up clearly inspired by circuit bending.
Aurelio Cianciotta