The Night Wears A Sombrero - A Day Long Festival Of Instrumental Music

"Lymbyc Systym's second album, Shutter Release, is another instrumental electronic pop effort from brothers Jared and Michael Bell. The album's increased sonic depth (care of Explosions in the Sky producer John Congleton) helps open up their Mice Parade-esque hypnotic electro-pop with an increased sonic palette and spacious mixes while showcasing the duo's musical growth with its ethereal songwriting and hushed melodies. In a genre where cute sounds can often replace real ideas, Shutter Release is filled with memorable songs that build from their arrangements into hummable, delicate slices of electronic twee." - XLR8R review

Wires.Under.Tension is a duo based in The South Bronx. Combining homegrown audio sampling instruments with ferocious beats and adventurous orchestration, WUT's angular gymnastics reflect the raw imagery of their home turf. Multi-instrumentalist Christopher Tignor switches dexterously between violin and the rest of the arsenal while Theo Metz extracts brutal truths from the kit. Together WUT is rethinking what instrumental music can be about when musicianship and restless experimentation rule the scene.

You could call Zvoov math rock, but that would be missing the point. Yes, the instrumental power trio rocks angular riffs and impossible rhythms, but this is not some dispassionate exercise in odd-meter wankery. This is music with feeling, owing as much to Radiohead and Om as to Hella and Don Caballero. Zvoov's sound veers effortlessly from glimmering, off-kilter melodicism to full-blown sludgy mayhem. The weird time signatures are certainly there, but often woven slyly into a song to create a sense of unease and disquiet within an otherwise accessible piece.

Spaces is an American instrumental post-rock band based in Brooklyn, NY. They are typically known for their exploration of various genres, often following celestial themes, and have released two full-length albums to date.

Florida natives and longtime friends, guitarist Duke Ahrens and drummer Franco Colon began writing and recording together in 2008. These collaborations would serve as the beginning of their first album, Voyage. For their debut, Spaces wrote and recorded a new song every month, with each one linking to the next by similar sounds and sonic qualities. Local artist and friend, James Sanford, then provided unique artwork for each song, and occasional guest musicians were brought in for additional support. The album was released over an 8 month period, and ended with a total track-listing of 10 songs, spanning over an hour of music.

Spaces returned two years later with their sophomore album, titled Nothing Exists but Atoms and the Void. For the recording of their second album, Ahrens and Colon built a recording studio on a decommissioned ferryboat, and once again enlisted the help of local musicians to perform additional instrumentation. Unlike Voyage, Spaces opted to release the album all at once instead of their previous song-a-month approach. The release of this album was preceded by a promotional teaser video, which featured Ahrens and Colon performing with supporting musicians, as well as footage of the scenery surrounding their boat studio.

In the months following the release of NEBAATV, guitarist Nathan Lyons, bassist Ian Dudley, multi-instrumentalist Jason Choi, and synth player Jake Beal were added to the band's roster as they prepared to play live for the first time. Spaces played their first show on
September 21st and has begun writing new material.

The young band Les Rhinocéros delivers a crazy world in sound. The trio of teenagers was formed in 2008 while the players were still in high school, and has developed since then into an intense and wildly imaginative group that takes music to its extremes. Emotional, minimalistic, intense and grooving, this is music that goes beyond imagination to the edges of sanity.

Sontag Shogun is an ambient, electronic piano trio comprised of members from [the] slowest runner [in all the world]. Pooling their influences from modern classical, improvised and ambient musical spheres, they create longform shape-shifting compositions that are at times lush and melodic as well as textural and unpredictable. They have improvised with artists as diverse as Matana Roberts, Tom Carter, Aki Onda as well as a collective of Japanese contemporary video artists. They make music to dream away to, or from.

Adam’s Castle (Sami Jano, Piano/Rhodes; Eric Adams, Bass; Zach Eichenhorn, Drums) is a three-piece instrumental, experimental band from Detroit, now residing in Brooklyn, NY.

Stripped of distractions and easy answers (like guitars and lead singers) that manipulate a listener’s most obvious and primitive emotional responses; Adam's Castle delivers an eclectic and unpredictable sound that traverses jazz, classical and rock – at times tightly composed, at others steady and driving with subtle mood shifts. Their insistence on collective composition produces an intense synergy that highlights the creative energy of all three of its members. Castle’s sweeping, emotionally transformative music requires listeners to dig for an authentic response, but it doesn’t demand - it entices, titillates, and enriches.

Wess Meets West is an instrumental electronic infused rock band from CT. Initially, Wess Meets West was intended to be solely an electronic music project by Sam Stauff (My Holy Ghost, A Paper Tugboat). The project stayed this way until 2008 when bassist Bryan Gottshall and drummer Jesse Vengrove were recruited enabling the project to become a live band. In early 2010, bassist Erick Alfisi (ex-Forget Paris, A Paper Tugboat) and drummer Brian DiCrescenzo (ex-The Ghost Sonata, The Attending) joined to keep the project going in a live setting. With new members came a new sound and a new direction for the band. The culmination of these factors is the band's newest endeavor, "Chevaliers". "Chevaliers" is the band's most expansive effort, combining the creative influence of all the members, past and present, while pushing the sound to its furthest limitations. The ever-expanding lineup has recently grown to include Mike Howard and Nick Robinson. Wess Meets West will continue to explore new musical territories and tour the northeast in 2012.

Born out of a marathon of NBA Jam sessions and Alan Watts inspired discussions on the nature of perspective, Oculesics sounds like the use of eye contact as a means of communication.

Jon DeCarlo (Guitars, FX), Jon Ellis (Bass) and Steve Ellis (Drums), meticulously carved years worth of thoughts and ideas out of their brains and arranged them into dizzying patterns of notes and rhythms, culminating in the release of their debut album “Never Odd Or Even” in the summer of 2011 as a free download.

CALLS is an instrumental duo that writes dynamic and progressive music. Taking elements from post rock, CALLS tries to do away with the repetitive and formulaic aspects that make the genre predictable and stale. CALLS came together seriously in October 2010 In New York to get ready for live performances. After being offered a record deal with Pirate Ship Records, the band is taking time to record and write, and as always perform live.

With cavernous guitar tones and unique effects styling bound tightly in melody, CALLS attempts to walk on the borderline of fun and serious guitar interplay, while riding on rhythmic drum progressions sifting in and out of different time signatures.