Original image by There Stands the Glass.
Free admission. Set changes of two minutes or less. Superlative surround sound. Attentive audiences. Comfortable seating. There was a lot to like about the Electronic Music Midwest’s festival at Kansas City Kansas Community College on March 10 and 11.
I treated the event as a low-key approximation of the post-genre Big Ears Festival as I attended the first, fifth and eighth of the festival’s eight concerts. The absence of star power and brief sets were the only liabilities.
I was previously familiar with only a couple of the performers. And there wasn’t much time to get to know them. Most outings were between five and 15 minutes.
My understanding is that all of the festival’s participants are affiliated with academic institutions. Consequently, the industrial rock was congenial, the beats were civil, the screaming was artful and the sound collages were crisp.
The genteel decorum meant that everything presented was quite good, but few offerings felt revolutionary. The deployment of motion-activated gametrack controllers by Xinglan Deng and Sunhuimei Xia in separate demonstrations were wondrous exceptions.
I also admired Heather Pryse’s fusion of flute, voice and electronics. Nathan Krueger’s rendering of Ed Martin’s hilarious aria “The Future” was similarly striking. Alas, the festival will be held in the Chicago area next year. It’s tempting.
