Ever been caught in an auto body shop for a long afternoon, having accidentally left behind your iPod at home, and then been drawn in, unexpectedly, by the industrial chamber music of power tools and exhaust pipes, interspersed with the occasional bout of locker-room humor and cursing? That is what a May 2009 performance by Myo (aka Cory O’Brien) sounds likes, minus the macho wordplay (MP3). The tactile association is not misplaced. O’Brien’s music-making toolbox focuses on contact mics on polycarbonate sheets, all played through computerized feedback networks. The result is a sound space redolent with torque, noises being turned, twisted, contorted, and it’s a credit to O’Brien’s programming that his computerized filters never lose touch with the physicality of his source material. Check out this nearly 12-minute live track, recorded at the Velvet Lounge in Washington, DC:
More at myosound.com.