[The KBD Sonic Cooperative]
 [Theory] [About]
The Belgian essayist Paul DeMan wrote in 1973 that “Modernity
exists in the form of a desire to wipe out whatever came earlier, in the hope
of reaching at least a point that could be called a true present, a point of
origin that marks a new departure.”
While self-appointed rebellious music
conforms to rhythms and patterns that become as predictable as the fabricated
temporal cycles that dictate our modern condition: the time clock, the “work
week,” and so on, the lyrics and technology that promise liberation only become
an invisible cage. What is a person looking to challenge this modernity, only
to have it constantly reinforced, to do?
Break it all down. Unlearn it and then
begin again. This is The KBD Sonic Cooperative’s approach to music. Much like
life is more liberating without a clock, KBD abandons the expectations of
rhythm and structure to pursue the big sound, the intergalactic hum that our
modern circumstance prevents us from hearing: the natural successive rhythm of
seasons, ocean currents, aviary migration patterns, and galactic cycle.
“The One” that so much of modern music
insists upon occurring every four beats might not come on that day. “The One”
might not come in our lifetime, or in this geological epoch for that matter.
Abandoning “The One” and seeking “The Sound” is recognizing that we are part of
something larger, and playing along with it. As Toru Takemitsu suggested “Rules
for music proliferate, but the question of sound remains obscure.”
Modernity isn’t going anywhere. Technology will make old habits seem new and new music will make old ideals seem attainable. In the meantime, KBD will be tracking the big sound wherever it manifests: in theory and in practice, in acoustics, in electronics, and in the spaces they inhabit.
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