Ahleuchatistas

In 2010, the musical project known as Ahleuchatistas (AH - LOO - CHA - TEES - TAS) began performing new music for guitar & drums duet. Shane Perlowin plays guitar and Ryan Oslance plays drums. This arrangement of the band officially premiered at the 2010 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 28th and was followed by 23 concerts in Europe from March 31st to April 25th. They performed at Wire Magazine's Adventures in Modern Music Festival in Chicago in September 2010, and did a three week tour of Europe in December 2010. Two full length albums were produced during this period that will see the light of day in 2011/12.
Since its inception in 2002, the music of Ahleuchatistas has always been difficult to pin down with words. The current sound has broadened the band’s palette with elements of noise, African music, ambient/drone, Chinese traditional music, minimalism, garage rock, classical music, and electronica. It blends block-form, thru-composition, and improvisational musical strategies. Perlowin and Oslance have a unique psychic interplay that can be incredibly elastic or razor-sharp tight. Ominous walls of sound morph into tight-knight rhythmic figures, haunting melodies float over martial drumming, roaring moments of sustained tension acquiesce into screaming silence, a musical promise is fulfilled. On the earliest recordings an interest in pure sound and texture can be heard on select cuts. This tendency became more prevalent with each successive album. The new music continues to push in this direction, still with the characteristic rhythmic intensity. Rock and roll!
"There's noise and fire in their playing, but most of these tunes are also studded with signposts, demanding close attention and clear execution."
-The New York Times
"It's the kind of musical tug-of-war that sounds as jagged as it is graceful."
-National Public Radio
"Powerful.explosive."
-Pitchfork
"It's a world away from the all or nothing monochrome of lesser acts."
-The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music
"Music does not get much closer to the edge than this."
-Alternative Press