Electronic Music Lab: Sonic Cities at The Esplanade

(From Left: Benjamin Ang, K K Tan & Adrian Lo)

Held at The Esplanade Concourse over 2 nights on a breezy weekday, the recent installation from the Electronic Music Lab (EML) might have looked different judging from the picture as those who have attended previous shows would have expected tons of visuals and vigourous movements from the performers. As for onlookers watching the EML for the first time, their maiden voyage might have peppered with curiosity ranging from the relaxed stationary position of the performers to an unidentified object that resembled a remote control but that is the magic of the melodic think tank: The surface is anything but a teaser beneath it

Sonic Cities featured the trio of Benjamin Ang (one half of Cosmic Armchair), K K Tan and Adrian Lo plus an array of gadgetry which included a laptop, mixers and the unidentified object which was later made known as a Wii joystick. Impossible? That is when the boundaries begin to break down and like music archaeologists, EML dug deep into unearth valuable fossils and samples that complement together like a jigsaw puzzle completing a beautiful portrait or in this case, tracks that bring forth a myriad of tracks suffice to pump through your veins faster than an injection. From their depiction of what city life is all about to historical milestones, EML brought life into the enclosed semicircle of the Esplanade bringing a picture perfect standstill for 30 minutes and an anticipation of future performances soon after Adrian pressed the last button to bring Sonic Cities an end. Yet the buzz still resonates in the minds of many and given any time of the day, the creative suits in EML can stand toe to toe with the best