I couldn't have been more wrong. Imagine my surprise in finding that Octant is a drum machine, but not the boring type of nondescript box costing thousands of dollars and delivering nothing more than a thoughtless antiseptic beat.
Octant is kinetic art-a robot of sorts delivering movement color and sound.
A series of computer controlled levers and switches concocted from long lost basement materials play brightly colored drums to create a real sound with a mechanical whirr. This could be the future of electronic music. In fact, galleries are part of Octant's regular touring repetoire. Accompanying the Octant machine are the voice and keyboard stylings of Steinke and his partner Tassany Zimmerman that reflect disinterested go-go band getting into a brawl with Sonic Youth. It's a multimedia CD that also contains two video shorts set to some of their more annoying interludes of blips and squeals.