Journalists and critics love to pontificate about “new media” and the phenomenon of “media convergence” and more often than not the discussions devolve in semantic arguments or grandiose visions of a future that never quite seems to be now. Well, beneath the chattering of people who love to hear themselves speak are the sounds of people who are pushing the limits of digital technology and making that grandiose future exist right now. Take digital-renaissance-man Peter Prautzsch as a shining example; the music he makes as Palac nary enters in the material world. From his field recording sources and electronic compositions to WAV/MP3 only releases, his Palac tracks float instantly from person to person without ever touching anyone’s hands. Take a quick look around his website and you’ll find his video and design work, as well a link to Frozen Elephants, the “Creative Commons Netlabel” he co-runs to release electronic music for free. Of course, it wouldn’t matter that much if his oeuvre weren’t so deeply in tune with a warm, material world that the work itself never exists in. Wyatt Williams

Palac – Kind Things Sing