Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your computer was schizophrenic? Probably not, but if you braved the snow to see Chicago-based I Love Presets show at the Memorial Union Play Circle, you got a pretty good idea of what it’d be like.
The show started out innocently enough. Jon Satrom and Jason Soliday, two thirds of the experimental sound duo, gave the small crowd a quick primer on “data-bending,” a method by which one can change the way their computer interprets a file. This was actually a pretty interesting segment. They gave some cool insights into how computers interpret data, and how you can screw with that interpretation. After the two had finished their example, the show itself started. This is where all hell broke loose.
The third member of I Love Presets, Rob Ray, joined the duo via the internet to begin pumping random sound effects into the Play Circle. The room was soon filled with a nearly indescribable cacophony. At times, it’d sound like a fire alarm going off in the turbine room of a cruise ship. This would go on for a few minutes, fade out, and come roaring back sounding like a 56k modem connecting to AOL. All of this was under the ominous hum of an alien mothership flying overhead. In short, it sounded like the computers were going insane.
While the room filled with noise, the duo put on a performance showing off some more advanced data bending techniques. Software windows were consumed by colorful static, melting into an incomprehensible digital kaleidoscope. At times, animated .gifs typical of late 90s Geocities sites would float across the screen. The viewing experience was a unique and nearly unfathomable experience.
If you get a chance to see I Love Presets, don’t go expecting music, or any entertainment in the traditional sense. Unless you have a deep interest in glitching out computers that supersedes your interest in not listening to loud noises, I Love Presets probably isn’t going to be your cup of tea. If you’re looking for a better idea of what the trio does, you can check out some rough approximations of the visual aspect of their show on their website. It’s not quite the same, but if you’re really curious this is probably your best bet. I Love Presets is unlikely to be back in Madison any time soon, but unless you’re a hardcore fan of the experimental noise, you haven’t missed much.
