WFMU : Freedom is Freeform!

Jitters, beauty, and blissed out guitar loop magic all converged on my radio program this week, when Baltimore musician Dustin Wong stopped by for a live set.

Scenes from Dustin's illustrious past include playing guitar in two of my favorite bands of recent years: high-energy spazzers Ponytail and intricate dualing guitar melodists Ecstatic Sunshine. That's one hell of a resume! Amazingly, Dustin's new solo material is equally fantastic as his work in other projects, and it even takes his talent in a new and exciting direction.

Dustin Wong's lovely new album of looped guitar orchestrations is called "Infinite Love: A Square Defining A Circle" (Thrill Jockey); it's a variety pack of sorts guaranteed to earn brownie points with any date, featuring two LPs/CDs entitled "Brother" and "Sister" (which start out the same, but then diverge), plus a DVD.

His performance on my radio show (excerpt below) mirrors the style on "Infinite Love." Layers are added to a simple theme and gradually, pauses are filled with playful harmonies, building a complex and beautiful piece that effortlessly transitions into the next idea. When Dustin performs live, you can almost see a miniature symphony of phantom guitars playing along above his shoulders.

Be sure to catch Dustin live in a city near you -- he's on tour with Avocado Happy Hour and Holy Ghost Party (both of Baltimore), playing everywhere from Vermont to California, and then coming back to the East coast again at the end of November. Tour dates/venues here. Also be sure to check out Dustin's bilingual (English/Japanese) blog. Baltimore music fetishists and those interested in the city's latest "soft music" scene, should swing by Bmore Musically Informed for tons of songs/photos/videos.

The archive of Dustin's full live set on WFMU is available as streaming audio here, along with a short interview.