Altered Zones

László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) was a Hungarian visual artist who taught at the Bauhaus school and was influenced by constructivism; his concept of "the New Vision" pointed to photography as a method of viewing the outside world, beyond the scope of the human eye. But what's particularly fitting in the case of the Brooklyn label Temporary Residence Limited's new Moholy-Nagy project-- which includes Tarentel founding members Danny Grody, Trevor Montgomery, and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (who also co-founded the Root Strata label, performs with The Alps, and has recently relocated from San Francisco to Berlin)-- is that László also pioneered the Light Art medium.

The new New Age pummels forth here on "Brute Neighbors," which begins with a slow and atmospheric slab of swimming electronics, washing over an obscured but steady rhythm guitar. A hyper, pre-fab motorik beat gives way to a Neu!-like sprawl on live drums (courtesy of live member Damon Palermo, of Jonas Reinhardt and Mi Ami) and a faintly shimmering guitar hook. We end with a burst of ecstatic, razorsharp electronics. The track's bright, expansive, and skull-mining mood should come as no surprise to fans of Cantu-Ledesma's essential 2010 Love is A Stream LP, which tapped the optimistic potential of massive, noisy shoegaze. --Jenn Pelly, Altered Zones

MP3: Moholy-Nagy: "Brute Neighbors"

Moholy-Nagy’s debut, Like Mirage, drops October 18th on Temporary Residence. In the meantime, check out four more tracks that err on the side of ambient over at the group's Bandcamp