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The Night Grinder's aural poetry is always improvised and never ill-prepared. Brad Schumacher moves mics with a subtle hand, wielding succinct sounds. Where cables dangle down like puppet strings, connecting mics to processors, Schumacher brings the Night Grinder to life. Often working with feedback, he builds powered drone through exploring a room's space. The stage's floor and walls are vital to audio experimentation, and Schumacher is an expert navigator.
A recent showing had malleable beats behind discernible bass notes, lending a '70s Kraut-rock-inspired bend. Early works offered careful audio captures of broken glass and crushed miscellany, a striking contrast to digitized fare. Schumacher combines academic and punk approaches, crafting distinct noise that could only be known as the Night Grinder.
See also: Best Noise Band - 2013 The Night Grinder
Joseph Raglani's expertise as a sound manipulator is only matched by his ability to find himself in great company. When he gravitated toward the ambient side of the electronic spectrum, he released music on Kranky Records, the Chicago label that notably launched the career of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. On his newest album, Real Colors of the Physical World, Raglani stepped away from the soundscapes of an observant tourist and built his own universe of glitches and bleeps. Fittingly, Real Colors also found a new home on elite Austrian label Mego, putting Raglani in a league with laptop pioneers Christian Fennesz and Jim O'Rourke. -Ryan Wasoba
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