Seattle Icons Reverberate in Time
Amy Denio and Bill Horist are two of Seattle's best known music experimentalists. Amy, you may know, is a saxophonist/clarinetist/accordionist/vocalist. She’s released a solo vocal album with Right Brain Records, and is part of the trio Gli Autopiloti, among many others. and a Bill is a multi-faceted guitarist, known for imaginative use of electronics and preparations. He’s part of the remarkable trio Lotus Lungs, among lots of other credits. They're each renowned in experimental music circles far beyond their home town. It's rare that they come together on stage, but they did so twice this year, both in exotic physical spaces. Their new album, Church & State, captures these performances.
The scenes were two venues known for their remarkable acoustics. Both were built in 1906. One is the venerable Good Shepherd Chapel, a room of elegant stained glass, elaborate woodwork and vaulted ceilings, now repurposed as a sacred chamber for creative music. The second is the Georgetown Steam Plant, a municipal power generator and National Historic Landmark filled with massive steel turbines and pipes.
This album includes two extended pieces, both spontaneously created in live concerts that played of the majesty of these environs. The Steam Plant show had another dimension: a screening of the silent 1927 sci-fi movie Metropolis. Amy and Bill conjured a soundtrack to matches the film's surreal imagery in real time. We recommend you wear headphones and crank up the volume...