New York-based ??(OHMSLICE) will be releasing its debut album Conduit September 8 on Imaginator Records. The album was recorded at Ft.Lb Studios in Brooklyn, produced by the outfit's primum mobile multi-instrumentalist Bradford Reed (King Missile III, inventor of the electric board zither called the "pencilina") .
Ohmslice formed around Reed's experiments in processing percussion through a modular synth. Layered over a sonic framework of double-drummed syncopated rhythms and analog pulses and drones are the sultry vocals and driving, often abstract lyrics of poet Jane LeCroy (Sister Spit, Poetry Brothel). Joined by a rotating crew of collaborators including Josh Matthews (Drumhead, Blue Man Group) on drums, the legendary and ubiquitous Daniel Carter (Thurston Moore, Yo La Tengo) on trumpet and saxophones and Bill Bronson (Swans, The Spitters, The Gunga Den, Congo Norvell) on guitar. The album combines formal structures and heavy grooves with a sonic meditation on the nature of human-electronic improvisation.
Conduit, was recorded live over a two-year period. The album is an organized documentation of spontaneous creation and exploration and moves from the fuzzed-out psychedelic of "Crying on a Train" to the meditative ambient cycles of "Broken Phase Candy" and beyond. Within this realm, the listener is meticulously guided through beautiful harmonic and rhythmic phase mosaics and held captive by an innovative and violently unquantized approach to groove based electronic music. Combined with LeCroy's visionary mixture of philosophy, reflection, language and song Conduit illuminates a path to a rare and alluring space that reveals endless layers with each new listen.
For OHMSLICE, Reed drew particular inspiration from the mysterious sounds of pioneering synthesists and electro-acoustic composers such as John Hassel and Morton Subotnick. With the same ingenuity he displayed in creating the Pencillina, Reed created a unique hybrid of modular synthesizer and percussion (a single tom tom and 40 year old 17 gallon water can). With this tool, OHMSLICE captures the improbable (and almost human) spontaneity of analog equipment delivering an ever-shifting and variably uncontrollable sonic palette. This utterly unique vibe is the ultimate sparring partner for LeCroy's improvisedvocals, which can turn dreamy or didactic within the space of a shifting note. Often interwoven into this mix are Carter's effortless jazz fluidity, Bronson's delicately focused grit and Matthews's exquisite rhythmic sensibilities. In this dance of improvisation, chaos hangs right on the edge of order and no OHMSLICE piece can ever be precisely duplicated.
Ohmslice.net
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