Experimental Soundscapes Smorgasbord

We just ventured into Europe again (that still seems a pretty weird notion: crossing into another continent so quickly and effortlessly), this time to enjoy something towards the other end of the cultural or entertainment spectrum.

Along with a few of our new colleagues and friends, Julie and Alex, we hopped on a dolmuş (public/shared minibus, 5.50 lira, about 30 minutes) to Taksim square, then walked down the fashionable and largely pedestrianized Istiklal Caddesi, in the lively Beyoğlu district.

Just off of Istiklal, down an twisty, cobble-stone alley, is the non-profit, community-owned performance space garajistanbul, which apparently is used for all kinds of performing arts (theater, music, dance, etc.), mostly of the experimental or avant-garde variety. (Its website, if you have a moment, is well worth a visit.) To our surprise, the space itself is actually modern and spacious, big enough to hold well over a hundred (standing) people—although fewer than 50 were on hand last night, everyone being able to sit on the cushioned raised platform (IKEA pillows, what else?!) on either side of the longish hall.

The experimental music program on offer was called SOUNDS-ALL-AROUND, which was billed as an evening of "electro-acoustic music." Performed by a group of several young Swedes, from the Institutet För Digitala Konstarter, or IDKA (Per Samuelsson, Thomas Bjelkeborn, Iréne Sahlin), the Frenchman Philippe Moenne-Loccoz, and a local artist, Koray Tahıroğlu, it was actually far more electronic than acoustic. Each performer took turns and "played" a Mac laptop, mixing and manipulating recorded sounds—some easily recognizable (voices, sounds of nature, gunfire), and some that were clearly computer-generated (pops, clicks, thuds, thunderous booms). The last piece of the evening, the only to be performed by a duo, included a flat metal disk (it turned out to simply be a cooking pot lid!) spun by hand on a table, with a bent paperclip and beer bottle cap pressed and scraped against it—and a small, lapel microphone held up close to capture the sounds created by such common materials.

Not music, per se, but still undeniably interesting and engaging—at times quirky, compelling, multi-layered and even beautiful (think Philip Glass, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen), at other times somewhat jarring, even bordering on the irritating. But a fair amount of variety and innovation, all in all, and in the end a pretty rewarding experience.

So if you ever find yourself in Beyoğlu with no particular evening plans, and perhaps are in the need for something different, you may just want to check out garajistanbul to see what may be going on. It could lead to something surprising and worthwhile.


If you'd like to read another audience member's reaction to the concert, please go to the blog eccentriCity (and a big thanks to eccentriCity for the photo collage above).