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Applied Kinesthetics

By admin_mike In

I. Hawg (Waits)

II. Trance (Hoover)

III. Thrash ( Neubauten)

 

Each of the three movements of Applied Kinesthetics is inspired by a different source: the first, Tom Waits’s song Filipino Box Spring Hog; the second, Hooverphonic’s Renaissance Affair; the third, Tanz Debil by Einstuerzende Neubauten. Each movement is an attempt to capture the feel of each song – the rough stomping of Tom Waits, the grace and elegance of Hooverphonic, and the wild, raw energy of Neubauten – in a concert music idiom.

Hawg borrows the structure of the original song, alternating verse and chorus, and follows Waits’ occasional use of temporal dislocation, the lurch one feels after miscounting steps on a staircase. Trance uses Hooverphonic’s technique of layering many lines on top of each other, each of which has its own beauty and integrity, but all of which combine into something greater. Trance also betrays my fascination with sequencing loops and Escherian transformation. Thrash uses Neubauten’s harsh textures and brutality, along with time compression techniques derived from Ligeti and Glass, to create relentless propulsive energy.