Stepdown presents the first North Island performance in over 25 years by Aoteroa’s finest noise/drone purveyors, Surface of the Earth.
Performing in conjunction with the World Resources label archive exhibition at Stepdown Gallery from March 1st - 16th, this ultra rare, not to be missed performance will happen at the Hastings Community Arts Centre on March 2nd, and will celebrate 30 years of musical activity from the band and its label, World Resources.
Held in high regard internationally despite being barely known at home, Surface of the Earth’s 1996 debut double LP, which was reissued in 2022 by American label Thin Wrist, has secured its place as a masterpiece of minimalism, and transmits like “a field recording from another world.”
If Gunn amps could triangulate a moon landing, broadcast with nary a musical gesture in sight and sounding like a munted alliance between Faust, The Dead C, William Basinski and Elaine Radigue, then you’d be close to the idea of what sorta ear conditioning to expect.
___“Synth drones, guitars and mutilated electronic debris to create a sound space where layers of distortion, hum and buzz hang like veils in the air, each disrupting the aural view of the layer beneath, without completely obscuring it from audibility. Bruce Russell (The Dead C) ___
