Altmusic presents..
from New York City
Zaïmph
Aotearoa Tour 2018
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 travelers. 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
http://zaimph.org/
www.zaimph.bandcamp.com
www.audiofoundation.org.nz/altmusic
Wed 14 Nov - Auckland - Audio Foundation with Rachel Shearer and Rosy Parlane
Fri 16 Nov - Palmerston North – Snails – with DSLB and Distance
Sat 17 Nov - Wellington - the Pyramid Club – with Thomas Arbor and Ludus
Fri 23 Nov - Christchurch - Dark Room – with Teen Haters and Scythes
Sat 24 Nov - Dunedin - Blue Oyster Art Project Space – with Eye and Gate
Wed 28 Nov - Auckland - The Wine Cellar – with Psychick Witch and Astrolabe
