CD – Erstwhile

Experimental music is a context in which irony does not usually flourish – especially in public. Humour is rarely used as a catalyst for new ideas in the world of sound, although there have been some notable exceptions of cheap, fairly vacuous fun: just think of Cage’s television appearances in Lascia o Raddoppia, and I ‘ve Got a Secret, in the late fifties and early sixties. In Three Exercises, Devin DiSanto and Nick Hoffman seem to want to dispel this assumption and by using playful ad hoc references they find mirth in some of the common dynamics between artists and audiences, languages and musical performances, places of action and listening spaces, mixing strange narrations and audio emergencies in a setting reminiscent of a weirdo early 80’s underground theatre. Two writers, Justin Palmer and Sharon Gless Burn, were involved in the recording, which continuously mixes sounds (such as rolling ping pong balls and electroacoustic sequences) that are sometimes difficult to decipher, with electronics generated in real time using frequency modulation effects and dynamic stochastic synthesis. It all comes to life in the gymnasium-auditorium of St. Thomas the Apostles Elementary School in West Hartford, Connecticut, a town of about 60,000 inhabitants. The effect is disorienting, almost like a crime scene, and the interaction between the two musician-performers is clear and engaging, full of rhythms and studied happenings.

 

Devin DiSanto / Nick Hoffman – Three Exercises