Von Sleight formed in June 2005 in an attempt to merge analog synthesizers, homemade instruments, electrified
household objects, and other strange percussive devices. We are influenced by many types of music including
krautrock (Neu!, Can, Faust, Cluster, early Kraftwerk), space rock (Heldon, Hawkwind), Finnish avant-garde and
krautrock (Keuhkot, Circle, Cleaning Women), early industrial (Einsturzende Neubauten, Coil), and San Francisco
Bay Area avant weirdness (The Residents, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Idiot Flesh, Secret
Chiefs 3, Moe!kestra).
The first album, Fringe Biology, is mostly a one-take experimental space rock session cut into multiple tracks and
was completed in 2005. The second album, Signs of Life, was completed in 2006 and is a more structured and
eclectic mix of styles than the first, varying from ambient krautrock to Joy Division meets Tiki exotica to early
industrial with tinges of jazz. Scandinavia Darkly, the third full-length release from 2007, was inspired by adventures
in Scandinavia and mixes MIDI instruments with homemade instruments/objects/devices and analog synthesizers.
Styles include the Residents meet Kraftwerk "Radiation in the Eyeball", Finnish painter/graphic artist Hugo Simberg
inspired "Symphony For Simberg", and Charles Mingus / African Head Charge hybrid "Sibelius and Salmiakki".
The fourth album, Sieves & Cyphers, was completed in 2008 and will be released with a companion EP. Both of
these releases emphasize the use of the Kaoss Pad, mixed with rhythmic freakouts, jazz, and Der Plan-like percussion.
New Kraut, the fifth album, will be release on Fringe Biology Recordings on 10/10/10 for their 10th release.
This album takes the avant-electronic, jazz, space rock, and warped pop styles from previous albums and infuses these
sounds with Krautrock and dub. The result is something like the analog tape recordings of Neu! being accidentally spliced
together with Hawkwind, Cluster, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Miles Davis, and The Residents. The instruments used on this album
include the Korg MS-20 analog synthesizer, fretless bass, Electribe, trumpet, electronic and analog drums, Kaossilator, and
MIDI instruments. The video for the title track follows a UFO that delivers New Kraut to the good people of earth. Like a virus
from outer space, the New Kraut is discovered and gets propagated into supermarkets for mass commercialization. New Kraut
is not a sandwich, it's a casserole.
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