jason (FMA Admin)

At a Monday night Death By Audio show a couple years back, Greg Fox, one of Teeth Mountain's four percussionists, passed along a sampler from his new Infinite Limbs label. This hand-painted cd-r introduced me to so much good music from the likes of Prince Rama of Ayodhya, Twisty Cat, Liturgy, Ducktails, and one Willy Weird...

Willy Weird, now known as Thick Business, is the solo project of frequent Infinite Limbs collaborator Tyler Dussenberry. Take a listen to the bad acid electro-surf jam "French Beach" (off that Infl comp), and the aptly titled, trance-inducing layered minimalism of "Smoothest Runes" (originally posted by 20 Jazz Funk Greats)!

The Infinite Limbs compilation also featured a track from Greg's solo project 5 Limbs, now known as GDFX. Greg's early solo stuff applied a percussionists' approach to loop pedals and sequencers to create hyper-active beat-oriented composition. Take a listen to the epic Altered Ego -- especially the 23rd and 24th minutes...

..sadly this mixtape-style culmination of three-years' worth of electronic composition, compiled "while couch surfing in Brooklyn in 2008", also represented the end of an era for GDFX. "Days after this recording was finished, Greg's gear was stolen, forcing a change in artistic direction" (-GDFX FMA artist profile).

When I booked GDFX for a live set on my radio show this January, I realized that Greg's new direction involved live drums and expansive electronics, but I didn't realize (until that morning!) that GDFX's limbs had multiplied to include 7 members weilding everything from a saxophone to a "japan banjo"... but with Dylan Going and Ernie Indradat at the controls the debut of the GDFX 7-piece does indeed bode well for "good fortune and great success in 2010 and beyond".

Perhaps Greg's new approach to GDFX was inspired by his experiences drumming in Dan Deacon's 17-piece ensemble. You can listen to Greg drumming with the Dan Deacon ensemble during their 2009 Primavera Sound festival performance here on the FMA.

...or maybe Greg was looking for another opportunity to bring in talented collaborators like Tyler "Thick Business" Dussenberry. Greg and Tyler have collaborated in myriad projects, dating back to their dorm room freestyle rap project (which I can't wait to hear!!) and Family of Love (who have a great track on the aforementioned Infinite Limbs compilation).

Late last year, Greg and Tyler appeared on WFMU's My Castle of Quiet with Liturgy, "Pure Transcendental Black Metal" from New York fronted by Hunter Hunt-Hendrix with Bernard Gann on second guitar. I had the opportunity to engineer the set myself, and was blown away by the sound of Tyler's bass...it sounded like crap, but in the best possible way. Wm.'s blog post has the full recap plus mp3s for your enjoyment. They played the New Yorker festival later that week, which totally boggled my mind (black metal + new yorker?) but hey, Liturgy is a seriously talented 4-piece and their new LP Renihilation (20 Buck Spin) is fantastic, take a listen to the promo track.

Liturgy plays the WFMU/aQuarius Records SXSW showcase in Austin Texas on March 19th, along with Pierced Arrows, Drunkdriver, Home Blitz, Dengue Fever, Sonny & The Sonsets (feat. members of the Fresh & Onlys, Thee Oh Sees, and Kelley Stoltz) and more!