Electro Manifesto's Rocky Mountain Buzz

From Boulder, Colorado comes Right Brain Records’ newest artist: free improv duo Electro Manifesto. Its members are guitar innovator Michael O’Neill and percussion iconoclast Gordon Kennedy. They’ve known each other for over two decades, and collaborated in the 1990s as part of The Instrument Panel, along with Farrell Lowe and Terry Sines. After a long separation, music has reunited them.

The sounds they generate defy the humble size of their outfit. Utilizing a tasteful array of processors and a hefty toolbox of percussive objects, Michael an Gordon build free-flowing soundscapes that evoke - and perhaps reflect - the Rocky Mountain sky. Invisible Logic is their first record together in a quarter century, and it’s a triumphant return. Available as digital download and on CD, the record often feels like a conveyor belt to another dimension. Sample the album here.

Click the image to hear tracks from the album.

Michael has extensive credits as part of the Boulder-Denver experimental music community, including Coyote Palace, Jack Wright’s Front Range Improv Orchestra, Arkestra Pirata and Extraordinary Renditions. His fluid style, sharp ear and subtle use of effects have made him a flexible collaborator to many. Gordon is an ideal counterpoint, employing drums, an array of hand percussion, found objects and unconventional use of electronics to create a well of sonic surprises. Gordon’s contributions are years in the making: he’s just returned from a 23-year hiatus recovering from an industrial accident. Prior to that, he was an active partner of many, including Lowe, Wright, Ron Miles, Fred Hess and Lois LaFond. He’s excited to be back!

Together, Michael and Gordon forge a sound as expansive and diverse as the Front Range environment they live in. Electro Manifesto’s first album is Invisible Logic, an adventurous exercise in freeform exploration.