[dextro / video_11 (still) / 2005]

We launched a new issue of Vague Terrain last Friday to celebrate the tenth anniversary of .microsound. Curated by the American composer/electronic musician Kim Cascone, the issue provides a number of textual and sonic examinations of "sub-atomic" sound design and a window into the microsound.org community. In the following excerpt from his forward, Kim provides an overview of the last decade of electronic music:

The promise of technology had failed us, leaving us to choose between two paths: the ivory tower of sterile academia or the seizure-inducing din of the dance club. Both paths, with a few exceptions, had become formulaic and resistant to innovation ... As I watched this 'post-digital' aesthetic ferment due to advancements in computer technology and the Internet, I felt compelled to create a place on-line where like-minded artists could act as nodes in a network, exchanging ideas and information in hopes of resuscitating experimental electronic music.

Kim isn't exaggerating as microsound.org has developed into an active network for the exchange of ideas and as a forum to facilitate conversation and organize collaborative projects ("Two Documents of .microsound" provides a thoughtful overview of the role of the mailing list within this community). So, to collect work for this .microsound "retrospective", a semi-open call was issued to solicit essays, video and tracks to document the creative output of this globally distributed community.

Vague Terrain 15: .microsound features text & video contributions from Ben Neill, Charles Turner, Dextro, Joanna Demers, Pere Villez, Thanos Chrysakis, Thomas Bey William Bailey and William L. Ashline.

The issue also contains a pair of compilations dedicated to the Deleuzian notions of "smooth" and "striated" space with contributions from Mike Rooke, Lubrication, Ronnie Cramer, [ruidobello], Richard Lainhart, sound art, TomDjll, Brett Ian Balogh, Scant Intone, Yota Morimoto, Jorge Castro, Joaquín Gutiérrez Hadid, Francesco Rosati, Asférico, Water Falls, Yann Novak, John Hanes, Epoch_Collapse, Jhenner Gayap Benadrilled, Skjølbrot, Markus Jones, Jon Hawken, Adern X Fades 4:38, Julien Ottavi, Vanessa Rossetto, Kim Cascone, Larnie Fox, eddie135, Di.J Crisis, shg, Cheryl E. Leonard, Noé Cuéllar, Gary R. Weisberg, Osvaldo Cibils, Kotra, Gintas K, John Kannenberg, Ricky Pannowitz, ocp, TheSAD, Margaret Schedel, Pereshaped, so/on, Eric Miller, Nux Vomica, v4w.enko, UmanoidSomeday, Epoch Collapse, Umanoid and Noé Cuéllar.

You can view Vague Terrain 15: .microsound here.