The guys from New Music Collective held their annual performance of Unsilent Night on Sunday. The music, by Phil Kline, is divided into four distinct recordings and passed out to any number of boomboxes. The goal is to gather a bunch of people together and have all boomboxes play their tracks simultaneously and walk through downtown. About thirty people showed up and braved the chilly winds, boomboxes in hand.
The experience was peaceful and surreal. Winding through the streets, I tended to focus on the people around me as the music ebbed in and out. When we finally arrived under the Christmas tree in Marion Square, everyone got a chance to settle into the last few minutes of the piece under the warm glow of christmas lights.
It’s postmodern carolling for a techie generation. I think I’ll have some deconstructed eggnog tonight.
Here’s a video I put together:
Unsilent Night from Charleston City Paper on Vimeo.
