Chicagoan Adam Sonderberg started Longbox Recordings in 1993 to release his own work, but over time the label has emerged as an important outlet for electroacoustic improvisers from around the globe, including European artists like Boris Hauf and Francisco Lopez. Longbox keeps a strong focus on the midwest, though, and this performance serves as a release party for albums by a pair of area acts. Percussionist JON MUELLER (who used to play in the rock band Pele) and synthesizer player JIM SCHOENECKER deliver a glacial symphony of ringing tones on The Interview, a gorgeous 31-minute piece that glides and hovers within a narrow pitch range. Schoenecker employs a series of long tones–often just one, never more than two–that undulate slowly and vary in loudness; some paired tones create pleasantly harsh beats of interference, but the sounds are usually pure and clean. Mueller bows metal bowls to create high-pitched drones, and when he does use a conventional drum he rattles it instead of striking it. During one passage Schoenecker’s gray and muffled synths merge with Mueller’s buzzing percussive sounds to evoke a windstorm rising and falling in intensity.
