I’m not surprised that there are two electronic-music festivals this
weekend—Decibel Festival (Thurs–Sun Sept
24–27, www.dbfestival.com) and Debacle
Fest (Fri–Sat Sept 25–26, www.myspace.com/debaclerecords).
“Electronic music” is too big for any single festival to embrace every
sub- and micro-genre.
Yet both festivals ably straddle a chasm that persists in
electronic music. On one side lurk musicians who graft the template
of popular music—four-beat rhythms and phrases as well as
consistent tempi, timbral allocation, and dynamic range—to
experimental textures. Am I the only one weary of hearing a great intro
that melds, for example, croaking frogs, a three-note viola
melody, kids yelling on a distant playground, and a minor-key synth
chord for 30, 60, or 90 seconds only to hear it all dissipate as the
routine of clocklike beats takes hold?
Others makers of electronic music fight to sculpt every second of
sound as Pierre Henry, Stockhausen, and other pioneers
did in the 1950s, trying to reinvent or at least explore the
underpinnings of music. Indeed, both festivals have much to offer fans
of the avant. Most notably, Decibel presents Sawako (Sun Sept
27), who congeals samples and digital grit into enigmatic
ambiences as part of Optical, a sound and video showcase; and Kim
Cascone (Sat Sept 26), who brings his masterly integration of field
recordings and electroacoustics to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Debacle
Fest offers the shimmering drones of KRGA, Mood Organ,
and the scabrous distortion of Physical Demon (Fri Sept
25) as well as Red Squirrels, the perverted plunderphonics of
Broken Penis Orchestra, LA Lungs, and Eric Ostrowski’s
post-Noggin project Chaostic Magic (Sat Sept 26).
Also this weekend, Steve Peters celebrates his 50th birthday
with a concert (Sat Sept 26, Chapel Performance Space, 8 pm,
$5–$15 suggested donation with a free CD). Just about everyone
connected to experimental music in Seattle knows Peters, including
yours truly (I sporadically perform with him and a half-dozen other
rotating members in the Seattle Phonographers Union or SPU).
Usually seen running perhaps the best venue for experimental music
in town—the Chapel Performance Space—Peters remains
underrated as composer and installation artist. His Webster
Cycles, written “for any combination of wind instruments or
voices,” ranks with Steve Reich‘s Piano Phase, Philip
Glass‘s Two Pages, and other trance-classics of minimalism.
Trombonist Stuart Dempster leads a small cadre of brass players
to perform the sacramental Cycles, which should sound lovely
inside the Chapel: Imagine drifting through an ocean-sized harbor
ringed by distant foghorns.
In addition, pianist Robin Holcomb, Gamelan Pacifica, and several
sound artists affiliated with the SPU perform other pieces by Peters,
including the regal Planctus for gamelan and the solo piano
miniature “Paris, Once.” 
