Samara Lubelski
Samara Lubelski has long been one of the core figures in NY’s sub-underground and key players in the so-called New Weird America, featuring in the seminal works of The Tower Recordings, Hall Of Fame, Jackie-O Motherfucker, MV & EE and more, as well as releasing five albums of her own and playing in Thurston Moore‘s band. At Akusmata Lubelski plays improvised set with solo violin + electronics.
“Lubelski weaves lines of pure tone through gulping effects in a way that recalls John Cale and Brian Eno‘s Gothic chamber arrangements for Nico, as strings swarm on the horizon in hives of electronics that recall the synthesized chorales of Klaus Schulze. Indeed, the treatments and the overall approach – moving from long, sweeping bows of razzing F/X drenched wow and flutter through obsessive vortices of heavy-textural flux – recall the viola playing of Bill Breeze on Coil’s Moon’s Milk sessions. The violin has always been a sonic reducer par excellence with its capacity eternally-sounding drones and Lubelski is a goddamn master of the form, moving from the kinda deep-space lullabies of Takehisa Kosugi through power-sawing vectors that extend the whole Spencer Yeh/BXC vibe into new realms of nowhere. The best psychedelic solo violin outing since, well, In The Valley? Massively recommended!” (- from the review of String Cycle, in Volcanic Tongue 2014)