Cul de Sac (band)
Encyclopedia
Cul de Sac are a rock music
group formed in 1990 in Boston, Massachusetts and led by guitar
ist Glenn Jones. Their music is primarily instrumental
. Jones and keyboardist Robin Amos have been the only constant members.
They have been classified by some as post rock, but Jones has expressed some discomfort with the term. He states that Cul de Sac is the most "musically satisfying" group he's been involved with; a group that is the "closest to being the band I'd dreamed of forming. It allows me to combine my love of open-tuned guitar, played fingerstyle
, with my love for electronics and noise
, all placed within a rhythmic rock framework." Jones occasionally plays "The Contraption," a prepared lap steel guitar
.
Cul de Sac have collaborated with guitarist John Fahey
and with Can
singer Damo Suzuki
.
Glenn Jones has also recorded three solo albums, This Is the Wind That Blows It Out (2004), Against Which the Sea Continually Beats (2007) and The Wanting (2011).
Cul de Sac performed at North East Sticks Together in 2006.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
group formed in 1990 in Boston, Massachusetts and led by guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Glenn Jones. Their music is primarily instrumental
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
. Jones and keyboardist Robin Amos have been the only constant members.
They have been classified by some as post rock, but Jones has expressed some discomfort with the term. He states that Cul de Sac is the most "musically satisfying" group he's been involved with; a group that is the "closest to being the band I'd dreamed of forming. It allows me to combine my love of open-tuned guitar, played fingerstyle
Fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....
, with my love for electronics and noise
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
, all placed within a rhythmic rock framework." Jones occasionally plays "The Contraption," a prepared lap steel guitar
Prepared guitar
A prepared guitar is a guitar that has had its timbre altered by placing various objects on or between the instrument's strings, including other extended techniques...
.
Cul de Sac have collaborated with guitarist John Fahey
John Fahey (musician)
John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the...
and with Can
Can (band)
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music.Can constructed their music largely...
singer Damo Suzuki
Damo Suzuki
, universally known as Damo Suzuki , is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can.-Biography:As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking....
.
Glenn Jones has also recorded three solo albums, This Is the Wind That Blows It Out (2004), Against Which the Sea Continually Beats (2007) and The Wanting (2011).
Cul de Sac performed at North East Sticks Together in 2006.
Discography
- ECIM (1991)
- I Don't Want to Go to Bed (1995)
- China Gate (1996)
- The Epiphany of Glenn JonesThe Epiphany of Glenn JonesThe Epiphany of Glenn Jones is an album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey and the alternative rock/Post-rock band Cul de Sac, released in 1997.-History:...
(1997) - with John FaheyJohn Fahey (musician)John Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string acoustic guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as the foundation of American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the... - Crashes to Light, Minutes to its Fall (1999)
- Immortality Lessons (2002) - live
- Death of the Sun (2003)
- The Strangler's Wife (2003)
- Abhayamudra (2004) - live - with Damo SuzukiDamo Suzuki, universally known as Damo Suzuki , is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can.-Biography:As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking....
External links
- Official Site
- a short biography at Epitonic.com
- 1999 interview by Piero ScaruffiPiero ScaruffiPiero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...