Decibel Fest: The Space Between
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, September 18, 2007
How do you define music? Probably not in terms of white noise and empty space. But as crowds beeline for the likes of Diplo, a showcase from less-known German label Raster-Notonwhich moves beyond the tenets of the minimalist genrearguably represents the heart of Decibel. Formed in 1999 by Olaf Bender and Carsten Nicolai, Raster-Noton has since existed as an experimental space outside of the electronic-music norm. Artist Richard Chartier, who released Incidence in 2006 and performed at last years Experimental Showcase, once said that a standard musical scale doesnt come into play when hes creating a piece. Pixels album Set Your Center Between Your Parts in Order To makes extensive use of white noise as percussion and fill, with minimal tones between the breakdowns. Its not what one thinks of when bandying about the term electronic music. The label also challenges traditional perceptions of clicks n cuts: Where labels like Mille Plateaux straddled the line between techno and minimal rather widely, Raster-Noton leaves much open to interpretation. Calling its artists compositions songs is almost insulting to the creative space they work within. Decibel exists to expose music, visuals, and sound beyond the reach of the in-the-know crowd, and Raster-Notonwhile under the radarembodies that essence.
