Former Books member Nick Zammuto has created a new music project. Its name?
Simply, Zammuto. With instrumental support from friends, this four-piece band combines driving polyrhythms, folk vocoder harmonies, percussive sequencing, and staccato Reich-inspired guitar riffs. This inventive transcendence of genre can only yield exciting and energetic results!
Full Fading
I hear: sweeping and twirling delays, contemplative guitars, descending melancholic phrases, tender voices calling out
Reminds me of: Kaki King, M83, Marissa Nadler, Atlas Sound
Zebra Butt
I hear: minor-key coolness, female computer “text to speech”, sporadic and crunchy synth melody, crescendos, virtuosity
Reminds me of: Tobacco
Crabbing
I hear: pitch-bending ragtime piano, satire, slow swing-shuffle groove
Reminds me of: Scott Joplin, Shooby Taylor
F U C-3PO
I hear: driving pulse, ascending borrowed chords, deep harmonized vocoder melodies, cheering crowds, lasers, swirling vibraphone, accelerating polyrhythmic cadences
Reminds me of: Health
Although the new band has a wide variety of sounds to offer, the effort is much less an abstract “listening music” project as it is a fun and visceral music performance. Refreshingly, Zammuto brings an energetic punch and a sense of humor to their show. Nick writes, “Our music is funny … it’s got this kind of humor to it. If you’re not expecting it, then it comes off as a surprise. I’d rather go for a smile (or groan) rather than try to get people to think what they are about to hear is profound.” Not only can this attitude be heard in the music, but it can be fully experienced in the live performance!
To learn more about Nick’s creative process and his lifestyle at his home in Vermont, make sure to read this recent Walker interview.
Zammuto’s Midwest debut at the Walker Art Center on November 10 will begin with Portland band Eluvium opening.
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