Assault and batteries

Geoff Mullen plugs in; Lord & Karlheinz freak out
By SUSANNA BOLLE  |  February 20, 2009

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After a brief stint in Pittsburgh, guitarist and electronic musician GEOFF MULLEN is back in his native Rhode Island, and the New England music scene is so much the better for it. Mullen, who also runs his own Rare Youth boutique label, released a pair of fantastic solo records a couple of years back: thrtysxtrllnmnfstns (Entschuldigen, 2004) and The Air in Pieces (Last Visible Dog, 2005). Since then, he's pretty radically changed course. Whereas his early records were rife with guitar and the occasional banjo riff, he now works almost exclusively with a hodge-podge of lo-fi electronics.

At the Middle East upstairs this Monday, Mullen will team up with local experimental musician extraordinaire KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN for what promises to be a blistering duo set of electronics and modular synthesizer. They'll be opening for New York avant sax-guitar-drums powerhouse ZS, who have an album due this spring on the Social Registry label.

This Wednesday, Semata Productions serves up the latest installment of its Coup d'État experimental-music series at the Piano Craft Guild with a ferocious line-up. Well, okay, it's the percussion-and-electronics duo of LORD & KARLHEINZ that should really give your cochlea pause for thought (and fear for their survival). The other two acts, ID M THEFTABLE/AUDREY CHEN (cello and vocals) and JANUNO TRIO (theremin, wood, voice), are typically more weird and unnerving than outright aggressive. Still, bring something cushy and dependable to stuff in your ears.

ZS + KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN/GEOFF MULLEN [duo] + GEOGLYPHS + MISSI ST. PIERRE | Middle East upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge | February 23 at 9:30 pm | $9 | 617.864.EAST or www.mideastclub.com | ID M THEFTABLE/AUDREY CHEN + LORD & KARLHEINZ + JAJUNO TRIO | Piano Craft Guild, 791 Tremont St, Boston [South End] | February 25 at 8 pm | $5-10 suggested donation | www.semataproductions.com

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  Topics: Music Features , Entertainment, Music, Keith Fullerton Whitman,  More more >
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