I squeezed into the (literally) homely warmth of The Box in West End, converted from a residence to a venue using, largely, only the power of imagination. There's no bar, so Nonsemble (and Mr. Maps) frontman Chris Perren generously fronted me the use of a couple of his own beers. "We can't have a sober reviewer," he noted, astutely. First up were Kathryn McKee and her string playing friends doing some of her singer-songwriter stuff, crossed over - appropriately for the occasion - with some of the instruments more commonly found in a chamber ensemble. The live environment took the edge off her usually very hi-fi production, which was nice. Solo post-rocker Sadglint demonstrated just how intimate The Box really is by turning on his amp and removing the few remaining cilia my ears were holding on to. It's a good thing I like his music. Taking a few minutes in the pleasant back yard area to solidify my melted head, I returned to find the many pieces of Nonsemble crammed on the 'stage'. They sold out the joint's admittedly modest, not to mention optimistic 80 head capacity, bringing together quite a few folks from both Brisbane's indie and young classical communities; ah, young-classical should be a genre, I think. They started out with BMX Phase, a stand-alone piece live synced to a video of some dredded dude cutting sick flips on his bike. They carried off the split-second timing perfectly and to great acclaim from the packed audience, which they thoroughly deserved, a great piece. The main event was the performance of their debut EP, Practical Mechanics. A brightly energetic salute to the technological optimism of the '50s, blurring the lines between mathematically calculated minimalism and the power of post-rock. For my money they actually carried off the, again, very complex timing better than they did in the recording studio, sounding very confident. The whole EP is a single piece, divided into five movements. In a classical context it would be inappropriate to clap between each one, but Chris told me he was really pleased when people applauded; so I did, and was rewarded with one of my classical world friends sitting next to me looking at me like "you're a total dickhead and I have a lower opinion of your intellect now." No-one said it would be easy bridging the classical / indie divide. Intolerant friends not withstanding, Nonsemble did a pretty good job of it, certainly as far as the crowd was concerned. They finished the night with a taster of an even more ambitious work, a movement from a piece mathematically based on the moves of one of the world's most famous ever games of Go; yikes! I'm certainly looking forward to hearing more if it, the next time Nonsemble get out in front of a crowd.

- Chris Cobcroft.