This Sunday, Strange Matter will be receiving a visit from one-man electronic music project Baths. Baths–human name Will Wiesenfeld–can be best described as a one in a billion success story involving the proverbial guy who spends most of his time recording alone in his apartment. Hours spent on Ableton Live, mixing tracks containing every instrument known to the Americas, accompanied by wispy vocals that make you think, “Damn, I could do this.” But the fact of the matter is you probably can’t; not like this guy.
This Sunday, Strange Matter will be receiving a visit from one-man electronic music project Baths. Baths–human name Will Wiesenfeld–can be best described as a one in a billion success story involving the proverbial guy who spends most of his time recording alone in his apartment. Hours spent on Ableton Live, mixing tracks containing every instrument known to the Americas, accompanied by wispy vocals that make you think, “Damn, I could do this.” But the fact of the matter is you probably can’t; not like this guy.
Baths has successfully combined a hint of chill-wave (Toro y Moi, Washed Out) with a pinch of instrumental hip-hop (Blockhead, Odd Nosdam), plus a small dose of glitch hop (Prefuse 73) to create a completely different sound of his own. Taken under the wing of LA-based hip hop label Anticon in 2010 at the ripe age of 21, he was tossed into a pool with the greatest of backpacker hip hop gods, including DoseOne and Alias. Combining hard work, determination, good luck, and great connections, Baths have made it to the top tier of the indie electro-pop subgenre.
With the release of his debut album, Cerulean, in 2010, Baths established himself as one of the best up-and-coming electronic artists to hit the scene this decade. He recently followed up his debut with a second full-length, Obsidian, also on Anticon, which was released to the public on May 28th, 2013. The album appears to be a bit more bleak than his freshman album, giving listeners a taste of a darker shade of blue (or perhaps even black).
Currently touring as a duo, with Wiesenfeld accompanied onstage by multi-instrumentalist Morgan Greenwood, Baths will be coming to Strange Matter with a live show that’s progressed beyond the standard guy-with-a-laptop live electronic performance. Speaking to Interview Magazine’s Nathan Reese a few weeks ago, Wiesenfeld explained that the current Baths live setup adds guitar, keyboard, and two-part vocal harmonies along with the standard samplers and MIDI controllers he’d previously used. “I want [the live show] to feel more like a band, but still be extremely electronic in its nature,” he said. Fans who come to the show at Strange Matter this Sunday will have the chance to find out how this setup plays out in real time.
Baths will be appearing along with Houses and D33J at Strange Matter, located at 929 W. Grace St, on Sunday, June 16th. Doors open at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $12 in advance, and can be purchased online at http://baths.eventbrite.com. For more info on this event, click here.
