Eric Calilan on his mobile electronic sound factory. Photo by Andi Baldonado.

All of music comes from sound.  Music has no place without it.

Chi’s brainchild is a stark illumination of noise and sound.  With the exhibition of “Golden Noises” last Saturday, sound was marvelously deconstructed by several electronic gadgets and makeshift instruments.

Eric Calilan fuses electronic vibrations and crude midi to give his sound set some serious teeth.  He severs conventional music bars and devices new time signatures.  It’s remarkable what a few twists and buttons can create and express.  His renderings are neither crude nor delicate.  It is purely alien.

The set was followed by Chuck Fournier’s more melodious but playful sonic renderings.  It is truly a sound trip that blows the mind when one follows its unpredictable current and abrupt punctuations.  The beat he utilizes toward the end was misleading.  There is no rhythm but your heartbeat.  Sound has no rhythmic base only fluidity.

Lastly, Toshiyuki Seido has a very direct message.  His is an upfront barbaric display.  He strikes me as a very sadistic artist, forcing his audiences to painful noise.  The volume explodes and reverberates beyond one’s noise threshold.  It escalates the body to a shock so great it is only escapable with silence.  My interpretation is that he uses his instrument as a torture device, piercing you in strategic points while you are threatened with the knowledge that you can no longer escape.  If you stayed and listened, you are secretly a masochist.  To some, masochism is a legitimate form of pleasure.  And that is probably why I walked out.

Truly, every bit of sound is striking and exhilarating.  The concert was both an artistic and emotional exploration.