Happy golden anniversary to the International Computer Music Conference! This special album honors founder David Wessel (1942–2014). The full title of the 2025 theme: Curiosity, Play, Innovation—A 50th Anniversary Celebration of Creativity in Music, Science and Technology.
This generous collection showcases electro-acoustic music from around the world. Each piece is intricate and unique, while many touch upon contemporary themes, starting with Jiajing Zhao‘s “Glitchopolis,” a commentary on information overload. The very first sound is that of an alarm, doubled and then tripled, set against London traffic, which begins to fracture, stutter and glitch. Garbled human voices emerge from a processed vat; construction and technology intertwine. A bee – real and metaphoric – buzzes by, followed by a flock of birds, fireworks and a police siren. How many inputs can one brain handle? “Pardon me, ‘scuse me, sorry,” a commuter apologizes at the end. By refusing to mute the signals, the composer imitates the feeling of being overwhelmed, not only aural, but emotionally.
“Rumors, approximated” by Shane Turner with Simone Pitot (Delorca) uses algorithms to translate sound into data. The textures are the key, but as patterns emerge, questions of value arise: are these patterns authentic or unintentional? And how much of the human remains after technology has had its say? While Pitot purposely subjected her vocals to this process, other parts of life are unwittingly fed to the whims of the machine. Zeo Lin‘s Escape, whose opening minutes flirt with the dance floor, is filled with glass crashes and computer beeps, percussion and synth, piano and breath, representing a clash between the organic and the electronic, its movements marked by the click of a cassette. At the end a church bell tolls, only to by subsumed by static.
Daniele Valenti‘s “CAN you hear them?” is particularly clever, derived almost entirely from the timbres of cans. Without knowing this, one might only guess at the nature of these sounds. The knowledge allows one to lean in,, to cherish the sounds made by the humble object that one often kicks down the road or discards without any attention to its aural qualities. Can a can sound like traffic, or rain? Yes, it CAN. In contrast, “Hammerklavier” uses the piano as its acoustic source, with Antonio Argentieri doing pretty much everything but playing the keys. Think of Matmos’ Ultimate Care II, which performed a similar feat with a washing machine. Few would ever guess that this is a piano piece, which exponentially increases its appeal.
How does it feel to be “an international student with limited English proficiency” in London? Hongquan Yang and Fan Zu attempt to translate the experience in “Rambling,” starting with a traditional classroom speech about sound, then feeding it through echo, loop and reverb, injecting their own language to return the favor. Soon everyone is confused, yet finds common ground in the tempo and the playful approach. Passing grade! The chimes and choral tones of the beautifully titled “A Poem for Little Things” turn out to have been taken from children’s toys; as the mother of twins, Chung Eun Kim‘s aural environment has been altered, and she has responded by altering it right back, finding rhythm and melody, wonder and awe, in a castanet, maraca or toy xylophone. “Decorate beauty” is the concept behind Peter Dickson Lopez and Ensemble MISE-EN. “Mise En Series I” begins as a pure chamber piece before the electro-acoustic elements enter; the timbre approaches drone, as the instruments swell with sound, underpinned by pensive electronics.
As if coming full cycle, Liu Yurai‘s “The Shackle” is inspired by a visit to the thousand-year-old Daci Temple, an oasis of peace located in the heart of Chengdu. The contrast between peace and overload (as first addressed in “Glitchopolis”) is palpable. Tapping and texting sounds overlap and threaten to undo all calm; a train clacks by; passengers chatter. Soon the bicycle bells are replaced by temple bells, the incoherent conversations with chants, the traffic with birdsong, and a sense of balance is restored. Unfortunately, albeit realistically, the outside world keeps rushing back in.
“Seascape Serenity” readjusts the scene. Yu Chia Kuo and SinYu Deng pack the soundscape with hydrophone recordings that reflect the ecosystems of Taiwan. Just as one wished for the serenity of the temple in “The Shackle,” one wishes for humans to stop polluting the biophony of this piece. And yet, this is part of the lesson: that marine life is at least as stressed as we are and that we have caused both. While the piece attempts a happy ending, increasing the number of species calls, one wonders how realistic this might be; the title becomes less a reflection of the piece than an elegy.
Taken as a whole, Best of the Listening Rooms demonstrates incredible range while managing to flow beautifully as a whole. The collection is sociologically enlightening yet retains a sense of fun, honoring the theme. Most couples are winding down by their golden anniversary, but we have a feeling that the International Computer Music Conference is just getting started. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 