Queens arts center Knockdown Center kicked off the spring edition of its Outline series on Saturday night (4/30) with a lineup full of experimental, electronic, and ambient gems. The night began with ---__--___, the collaborative project of Orange Milk co-founder Seth Graham and Austin-based artist Mari Maurice, aka More Eaze, and More Eaze stayed on stage to perform with another collaborator, Claire Rousay, who was also joined by Theodore Cale Schafer. Claire recently released a new album, Everything Perfect Is Already Here, and Never Stop Texting Me, a collaboration with More Eaze; her ambient sets are some of the most compelling around, at turns beautiful and lulling, confessional, and confrontational. At one point she came offstage and walked up to the barricade, inviting people to talk about a time they felt uncomfortable. Multiple spoken accounts overlapped into a cacophony of voices, enriching the sound.
Hyd, aka QT co-creator Hayden Dunham, was up next with a dynamic set of mutant pop off their great 2021 debut solo EP. Following them was Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, who created layered, hypnotic soundscapes in front of a kaleidoscope of shimmering, psychedelic jewel tone visuals, leaving the crowd in a trance.