Music, the Body, Technology: Joshua Fried

After thinking about an example that I could find that would adequately demonstrate the convergence of music, the body and technology, I decided to embed a clip of Joshua Fried, a NYC musician/dj/technician. Fried has a solo show entitled "Radio Wonderland" where he begins by turning on a standard am/fm radio and cycling through the stations, looking for something interesting. Then he connects the radio to his equipment and begins to create a beat/melody by manipulating the radio sound wave. Involved in this process is his mixer, a set a shoes that act as a drum pad and a steering wheel that acts as a turntable and tempo controller. All in all, what he does is utilize the technological tools that we have as an 'electronic' society and manipulate the sounds we hear on a day-to-day basis into "music". With that said, after taking a look at this video, I asked myself a few questions that I would like to share, questions I think anyone would ponder after experiencing "Radio Wonderland":

1. Is this music? There are definitely unique sounds that are being made, there absolutely is a beat, I thought I was 'moved' by the sound, but is there something inherently different in this performance that is not related to or can not be compared to the 'regular' music we normally listen to?
2. Is there musical embodiment? Clearly Fried is not playing music with conventional instruments (other than maybe percussion while utilizing his shoe drum-pad), the audience doesn't see him strain to hit a high note or utilize his digits. Has technology removed all embodiment?
3. Does technology create a some sort of 'cop-out' within the realm of musical creativity? I understand that what Fried accomplishes here is thought-provoking and certainly creative, however does his use of electronic mediums and mechanical devices remove his musical creativity from the realm of other artists we respect?
4. Is this performance purely a gimmick?

I have my own answers to these questions and I feel as though each person will relate to this performance differently, so watch the video and see if this 'music' emboldens your views, or maybe changes them.