Charlie Looker
Charlie Looker | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Charles A. Looker[1] |
Born | New York City | May 23, 1980
Instruments |
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Labels |
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Website | charlielooker |
Charles A. Looker (born May 23, 1980) is an American composer, improviser, vocalist, and guitarist known for his work in experimental metal,[3] contemporary classical,[4] avant-jazz, and Renaissance and Medieval musical forms.[5]
Education and career
[edit]Looker is a graduate of Wesleyan University, where he studied with Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier.[6]
Alongside his work as a solo artist,[3] Looker also leads an Early/Renaissance-music inspired project, Seaven Teares;[7] performs improvised "death-jazz" with Period, whose rotating cast includes Darius Jones, Chuck Bettis, and Mike Pride;[8] played in Sculptress, a duo with Chuck Stern;[9] and leads the industrial-metal duo Psalm Zero, formerly alongside Castevet's Andrew Hock.[10] He is the songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist for avant-rock band Extra Life[11] and a former member and co-founder of avant-garde band Zs.[12] He worked with Dirty Projectors and appears on their record Rise Above.[13] Other collaborators include M Lamar,[14] Mariel Roberts, Ty Braxton,[15] Mary Halvorson, Mick Barr, Tim Berne, Nat Baldwin,[16] Earle Brown, Sam Mickens, Kelly Moran, Dax Riggs, Lingua Ignota,[17] Matthew Welch,[18] Stu Watson, William Parker,[19] and Glenn Branca.
He founded Last Things Records, a label that has released recordings by Extra Life, Larkin Grimm, Parenthetical Girls, Psalm Zero, and Sculptress.
In 2011, Looker was named one of NPR Music's "Top 100 Composers Under 40".[20]
Discography
[edit]As leader
[edit]Year | Artist | Title | Label |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | Lavender | Get Your Eye[21] | Newsonic |
2006 | Extra Life | Three-Song EP | FuckingA |
2008 | Extra Life | A Split (EP)[5] | Shatter Your Leaves |
2008 | Extra Life | Secular Works[22] | Planaria / I & Ear / LOAF |
2010 | Extra Life | Made Flesh[23] | LOAF / Africantape |
2011 | Extra Life | Ripped Heart (EP)[24] | Last Things |
2012 | Extra Life | Dream Seeds[25] | Northern Spy |
2013 | Seaven Teares | Power Ballads[26] | Northern Spy |
2014 | Psalm Zero | The Drain[27] | Profound Lore |
2016 | Psalm Zero | Stranger to Violence[28] | Profound Lore |
2018 | Charlie Looker | Simple Answers[3] | Last Things |
2020 | Psalm Zero | Sparta[17] | Last Things |
2020 | Charlie Looker | Pleasures Of A Normal Man | Last Things |
2020 | Seaven Teares | Older Than Love | |
2022 | Extra Life | Secular Works, Vol. 2[29] | Last Things |
2024 | Extra Life | The Sacred Vowel[30] | Last Things |
As co-leader
[edit]Year | Artist | Title | Label |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Daniel Carter / Charlie Looker / Greg Stare | Light | Aristocracy Communication |
2003 | Zs | Zs | Troubleman Unlimited |
2005 | Zs | Buck[31] | Folding Cassettes |
2005 | Zs | Karate Bump (EP)[31] | Planaria |
2006 | PERIOD | PERIOD | FuckingA |
2006 | Seductive Sprigs | Seductive Sprigs[32] | FuckingA |
2007 | Zs | Arms[33] | Planaria |
2008 | Zs | The Hard (EP) | Three One G |
2011 | Sculptress | Cuckold | Last Things |
2012 | Zs | The Complete Sextet Works 2002-2007[31] | Northern Spy |
2014 | PERIOD | PERIOD 2[34] | Public Eyesore |
2021 | Jeremiah Cymerman / Charlie Looker | A Horizon Made of Canvas[35] | Astral Spirits |
As sideperson
[edit]Year | Artist | Title | Label |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | Alvin Lucier | Vespers and Other Early Works | New World Records |
2002 | Matthew Welch | Ceol Nua | Leo Records |
2005 | Mike Pride | Scrambler[36] | Not Two Records |
2006 | Earle Brown | Folio and Four Systems | Tzadik |
2007 | Dirty Projectors | Rise Above | Dead Oceans |
2016 | Tredici Bacci | Amore Per Tutti[37] | NNA |
2017 | M Lamar | Surveillance Punishment and the Black Psyche[38] | Negrogothic |
2021 | Xiu Xiu | OH NO | Polyvinyl |
2023 | Xiu Xiu | Ignore Grief | Polyvinyl |
References
[edit]- ^ "BIO / DISCOGRAPHY". Charlie Looker. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
- ^ Gompers, Sjimon. "Stream: Seaven Teares, Power Ballads". IMPOSE Magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ a b c O'Connor, Andy (26 June 2018). "Charlie Looker: Simple Answers". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Walls, Seth Colter (15 June 2018). "Oh! Oh! Ojai: The Week in Classical Music". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ a b Sharp, Elliott (18 January 2013). "Exit Interview: Charlie Looker on the Life and Death of Extra Life". The Village Voice. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Margasak, Peter (23 September 2009). "Tirra Lirra, Extra Life, Cool Memories". The Chicago Reader. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Roesgen, Jeff. "Seaven Teares Power Ballads". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Cohan, Brad (20 August 2014). "Zevious". The Village Voice. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Weingarten, Christopher (21 June 2011). "Download: Tracks By Charlie Looker's Extra Life And Sculptress". The Village Voice. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ O'Connor, Andy (22 July 2016). "Review: Psalm Zero Put the Power in Corruption and Lies on 'Stranger to Violence'". SPIN. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Cohan, Brad (4 May 2012). "Q&A: Extra Life's Charlie Looker On Dream Seeds, Being A Music Schoolteacher And Thinking Antony Is Awesome". The Village Voice. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Powell, Mike (29 June 2009). "Zs: Music of the Modern White". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Carlson, Jen (22 October 2008). "Charlie Looker, Extra Life". Gothamist. Retrieved 10 February 2021.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ "Listen: M. Lamar, Charlie Looker & Mivos Quartet". New Sounds. New York Public Radio. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ "Charlie Looker (Seaven Teares, Psalm Zero, ZS) begins residency at NY's The Stone this month, premieres Twin Peaks cover song". Tiny Mix Tapes. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ "Extra Life: "I'm really into a certain amount of artifice in music."". Tiny Mix Tapes. 5 May 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ a b Collo-Julin, Salem (21 February 2020). "Sparta marks a new beginning for NYC's Psalm Zero". The Chicago Reader. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ "Matthew Welch: Ceol Nua". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Puccio, Michael (22 January 2006). "Mike Pride: Scrambler / Bartlomiej Brat Oles: Free Drum Suite". All About Jazz. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ "The Mix: 100 Composers Under 40". NPR. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ Kendrick, Monica (8 August 2002). "Spot Check". The Chicago Reader. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Roesgen, Jeff. "Extra Life: Secular Works". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Galil, Leor (25 March 2010). "Reviewed: Extra Life's Made Flesh". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Louche, Liz (22 February 2011). "Former Zs member releases Ripped Heart EP with his new(ish) band Extra Life". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Cohan, Brad (4 May 2012). "Q&A: Extra Life's Charlie Looker On Dream Seeds, Being A Music Schoolteacher And Thinking Antony Is Awesome". The Village Voice. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Roesgen, Jeff. "Seaven Teares Power Ballads". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Currin, Grayson Haver (18 March 2014). "Psalm Zero: The Drain". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (30 July 2016). "Psalm Zero: Stranger to Violence". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Hudson, Nick (5 September 2022). "Extra Life – Secular Works, Vol. 2". Toilet ov Hell. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ^ "Nine Songs I Liked This Week in List Form". Machine Music. 30 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Allen, Clifford (4 January 2013). "2002-2007: Zs Score: The Complete Sextet Works 2002-2007". Tiny Mix Tapes.
- ^ "Seductive Sprigs". WNYC. 11 June 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Mackey, Robbie (25 January 2008). "Zs: Arms". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Eidenberger, Julian (17 September 2014). "Period – 2 (Public Eyesore, 2014) ***½". The Free Jazz Collective. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "AMN Reviews: Jeremiah Cymerman / Charlie Looker – A Horizon Made Of Canvas (2021; Astral Spirits)". Avant Music News. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "Mike Pride: Scrambler". M.etropolis. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Schneider, Meredith. "Tredici Bacci Rolls Out Imaginary Cinematic Masterpiece in Amore Per Tutti". Impose Magazine. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Listen: M. Lamar, Charlie Looker & Mivos Quartet". WQXR. New Sounds Live. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2021.