Halfway through a heady conversation that has already touched on terrorism, music theory, and the divergent philosophies of Martin Heidegger and Giorgio Agamben, Andreas Kahre stops midstream and utters a low, self-deprecating chuckle.

“I’m sorry,” he says, on the line from his Gabriola Island home. “This thing sounds desperately highfalutin. But it’s really goofy.”

The thing in question is Ear/Nose/Throat, Kahre’s new multimedia composition for gamelan orchestra, voice, and electronics. And while this “opinion piece” does indeed have a serious dimension—among other things, it considers Agamben’s response to the line that Heidegger draws between humanity and the natural world—it’s also rich in surreal vignettes and surging rhythms.

¶ 3:21 PM