Subtropics Miami
Joe on January 26th, 2010 | Filed under Travel
There’s something spectacular about being in a city that’s made up of so many disparate pieces. The human puzzle doesn’t come together in any kind of definitive fashion in Miami, but only shows itself in segments, leaving you to make your own connections. Like any large city that has a vital population, there are no misconnections, or perhaps it’s better to say that the misconnections are often more interesting and true than anything that can be measured and described. There is an incredible sense of life here, of creation as well as destruction, where all the energies from all the parts of the globe are here in a sometimes fierce display.
It’s also a fairly easy place to navigate. If you can book a hotel, and it’s not difficult to do here, you can find your way into an interesting part of town. They’re all interesting in their own way. Most people notice the music right away. It’s certainly in part due to the influence of the cultures here that have essential source materials in the beat of a drum, and the polyrhythms speak to a sophistication of human intelligence that is thousands of years old. Like any big city, there are many different variations on themes, and if you’re looking for the experimental varieties, you’ll find something to love with subtropics.
They’re a collective of radical and interesting musicians, who also have strong capabilities in science and engineering. Some of their projects are utterly baffling, and some are perfectly splendid, but they’re all fairly spectacular. One of their most regarded performances was last year’s Canal, by the Frozen Music ensemble. This was a 13-hour installation, making sounds of nature audible to the human ear. It was by all accounts an extraordinary event, and further points out the fascinating directions David Dunn has been taking in a rather colorful life. David Matamoros and Rene Barge are also key members, and everyone here is worth listening to. The exciting thing is that you may have the chance to change the way you think about listening.
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