Category: Artist Profile

Source: Singersroom.com.

German band Neu! is one of the most influential and innovative acts of the 1970s krautrock movement. Formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by multi-instrumentalists Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger, the band’s unique approach to rock music combined experimental and avant-garde elements with propulsive rhythms and hypnotic melodies, resulting in a sound that was both groundbreaking and timeless. Neu!’s influence can be heard in countless bands and genres, from post-punk to electronic music, and their legacy continues to inspire and captivate listeners to this day.

Source: Far Out.

“My theory is this. I have a basic mechanical knowledge of the operation of the instrument and I got an imagination. And when the time comes up in the song to play a solo, it’s me against the laws of nature. I don’t know what I’m gonna play, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I know roughly how long I have to do it, and it’s a game where you have a piece of time and you get to decorate it.”

Source: Muslimgauze.

Does anyone remember Muslimgauze? It was the creative outlet of Bryn Jones, a man from England who was basically a human assembly line, extruding close to 100 albums’ worth of material over the course of roughly 15 years. (The first Muslimgauze material appeared in 1983, and he died in January 1999 of pneumonia, caused by a fungal infection in his bloodstream, which sounds like the kind of thing a noise musician would use as a track title.) In the nearly quarter century since his death, dozens more releases have emerged; Discogs lists 151 albums, 34 singles and EPs, and 18 compilations, plus five “miscellaneous” items: a flexi-disc, a half-hour interview released digitally, etc.

Source: I Care If You Listen.

I first got to know George around the turn of the millennium when he came to my Makrokosmos 70th birthday tribute for him at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. By the time his 75th birthday rolled around in 2004 (which I celebrated with another complete performance of Makrokosmos I and II, this time at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall), the Crumbs had accepted me into their household where I had the privilege of spending all the major holidays of the year. These occasions remain among my happiest memories.

Source: Downbeat.

Through countless gigs and seven studio recordings over the past 10 years, the members of the cooperative trio Thumbscrew — bassist Michael Formanek, guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara — have hit on a formula that balances strictly composed, intricately arranged and finely articulated material with blistering, unbridled improvisation that often tips into the skronk/sonic-shrapnel zone.

Source: Far Out.

While we primarily remember Frank Zappa for his non-conformist approach to music, he was far more than that. Given Zappa’s eternal confrontation of the avant-garde, it may be no surprise to learn that he had been a promising artist in his youth. Before his music career took off, he had won several competitions for his drawings and paintings.