We are proud to announce a nationwide tour for New York psychonaut, Zaïmph.
Zaïmph is the solo project of artist, musician and performer Marcia Bassett. Zaïmph’s recordings and performances shimmer with a dense, dissonant and often unsettling electronic aura, shot through with flashes of meditative beauty. Her preferred sonic toolkit includes prepared guitar, keyboard, cracked drum machines, custom-built noise/drone boxes, processed environmental sounds and tabletop effects.
As a co-founder of Philadelphia’s shambolic psychonauts un, tectonic drone pioneers Double Leopards, and the psych-folk drone trio GHQ, Bassett is deeply entwined with the American noise underground, and has mapped regions still only dimly understood by subsequent sonic travellers. From 2003-2008, Bassett joined Matthew Bower in Hototogisu, where her mastery of cacophonous eardrum shred achieved monolithic proportions.
Bassett’s releases have appeared on a variety of independent labels including Hospital Productions, Utech Records, Volcanic Tongue and No Fun. Although Bassett has released a number of recordings on her now retired Heavy Blossom imprint, she continues to showcase Zaïmph and other aesthetically allied projects on Yew, a label she founded in 2012.
“It would be tough to write a history of the last two decades in underground music without including Marcia Bassett … and any angle would have to include Zaïmph, Bassett’s solo project. Through small-run releases on numerous labels including her own, Heavy Blossom), Zaïmph has carved out a unique take on decaying feedback, assaultive fuzz, echoey ambience, and abstract expression.” – Marc Masters, Pitchfork, The Out Door
“…blasting a hole through the flimsy wall that separates ‘dark psychedelic’ and ‘free drone-rock’.” – Dan Warburton, Paris Transatlantic
In Auckland Zaïmph will be supported by Rosy Parlane and Rachel Shearer.
Rachel Shearer is renowned for deep dives into the materiality of sound through installation, experimental music, live performance. Her work has been supported with a number of public commissions as well as numerous releases on the likes of Xpressway (in group Angelhead), Drag City, Flying Nun (in group Queen Meanie Puss), Corpus Hermeticum, Ecstatic Peace, Family Vineyard (as Lovely Midget & Rachel Shearer).
Rosy Parlane began performing with the avant-garde rock trio Thela. Subsequently, he embarked upon a fruitful and celebrated arc working with abstract electronic music, both as a solo artist and alongside fellow Thela collaborator, Dion Workman, as Parmentier. His soundscapes are comprised of field recordings, pianos, guitars, household objects and other instruments manipulated via digital means. Rosy has released four solo albums, originally on Sigma Editions, and later on UK imprint Touch Records. Described by one reviewer as “inspired” and “exquisite”, Parlane’s soundscapes of beauty and destruction require a still patience easily offered as one is lulled from their position in time / space.
Wednesday 14 November @ The Audio Foundation, 8pm
Presale tickets available now via UnderTheRadar.co.nz
Altmusic is presented by the Audio Foundation and showcases leading international voices of experimental music alongside emerging and established sound artists of Aotearoa.
The Audio Foundation and Altmusic are grateful for the support of Creative NZ, Foundation North and Auckland Council.