Christina Kubisch - On Air

The cassette "On Air" by Christina Kubisch was never one of my favorite releases by her. Possibly because of the uncharacteristic track "Speak & Spell" with its simple electronic rhythm. However another major shortcoming of the cassette was that it did not explain the project at all. There is only a track listing and a few credits, no other details. This reissue on CD puts the music back into context by revealing the details of the open air installation that these pieces of music were created for. Through an interactive Flash animation file included on the disc and 15 minute mpeg rendition of a video documentary made at the time, the piece really comes alive. Instead of just six pieces of music, it can know be more clearly understood that these are six soundtracks to the dozen regions of the town of Gargonza which make up the playing field of this installation. In the original context these pieces, and a few others which are excepted in the Flash portion of the disc, were heard blended together on special magnetic headphones as one wondered the town. This is best illustrated by the 15-minute movie, unfortunately reproduced at a rather small size to fit on the CD along with everything else. In the movie, made by a now forgotten Italian film crew, a curious boy comes across Christina installing and asks her what she is doing. From there Christina points out the wires and the tape decks feeding them, and then sends the boy off to explore the town with the headphones. From this we can see and hear what would have been experiences in Gargonza in 1984 and how these pieces blended together so beautifully, at one somehow reminding me of the sound design in Fellini's film "Juliet of the Spirits". Going back to the Flash portion of the disc we can see the layout of the town and which sounds were in which area, as well as hear samples of them, a few of which are not on the CD. In addition to this, this Flash presentation gives us additional photographs from installations in various and biographical information. All in all, a very enjoy presentation of this material, which makes me appreciate more than when I initially heard only the music.