Doug Theriault - Guitar
 The
group DUAL (featuring Doug
Theriault on guitar and Ed Chang on electronics) approaches
experimental music less as exploration, but more as "explosion".
Since 1999 they have had 2 official releases to their name, "{duel}"
(Quodlibet Recordings) and "Destroy All Improv" (Toast & Jam), both
of which mined a fantastic cornucopia of sonic approaches towards
noise, collage, and avant-garde music. In many ways each of these
releases attacked preconceptions of experimental music, and made this
sometimes stodgy and serious genre, "fun" and/or "dangerous".
This was achieved to some extent by the fast-changing jump-cut nature
of their improvisations, as well as Chang's use of pop/retro mangled
samples and drum-beats. Their most recent release, "PYROCLASTICS" on Quodlibet Recordings find them focusing on noise and rhythm and for the most part jettisoning the irony. Though their earlier releases had a couple "Alec Empire on speed with Merzbow swallowing guitars" tracks, this release finds Chang and Theriault sticking to that aesthetic and tearing a new hole in it. Most tracks last no longer than a couple minutes and for the amount of information crammed into those couple minutes, that's a good thing since you'll need that 3 seconds in between each track to catch your breath. Theriault never lets up on the sonic assault, wringing unearthly tectonics that self-implode from his six-string as well as shredding it up like a real experimental guitarist should. Chang lays down the particle smasher blast-beats by extracting the best skin-flayings of Peart, Lombardo, Harris and Empire and setting the blender to...well, explode. In any case with this release Dual takes grindcore noise improvisation to a new level, taking pages from Lightning Bolt, Wolf Eyes, Merzbow and Hendrix on the way.  Doug Theriault plays guitar/custom
built electronics and a new instrument of his own design, the Sensor
Guitar. For the last 15 years he has presented his work all over
the United States with a wide variety of musicians, dancers and visual
artists from around the world. He is known in underground, academic and
free improvised music circles for a highly idiosyncratic approach to
guitar and electronics. Doug investigates the reciprocal contamination
of creative means and sensibilities. He uses varied organic and
electronic sound instrumentation, concrete sounds, voice, light
gradients (sensors), space and performative movement in connection with
architecture and notation systems.http://web.mac.com/doug.theriault/iWeb/Site/Home.html  Ed Chang plays electronics and
lately laptop. He's collaborated with people such as Aaron
Dilloway (Wolf Eyes), Donald Miller (Borbetomagus), Marshall Allen (Sun
Ra Arkestra), John Dieterich (Deerhoof), and David Nuss (NNCK), as well
as most of the lower east side of NYC. Besides DUAL he also
records with Spin-17, Rust Ionics,Agents at Midnight and with his
alter-ego Han Degc. Much more info about Ed can be found HERE.DUAL
Discography:
You can get the
"{duel}" CD from directly from our Catalog or through CDBABY.com (credit
cards, etc..) - yes, every CD still 10 bucks!. Dual – “{duel}” (CD) Doug Theriault (Office Products) and Ed Chang (Spin-17) challenge each other to an all-out sonic brawl, each of them using every secret ability and sonic weapon they can muster. Improvised music with 21st century guitar and the torn out remains of an entire electronic music studio. For most part unrelenting, a few tracks calm down but still give off the whiff of napalm in the morning… “an insane and exhilarating disc…totally gross and totally fantastic” - David Keenan, The Wire. “Theriault's fingers-in-the-Cuisinart guitar work chops up ragged scraps of feedback, detuned plonks and seizure-inducing fretwork. Chang shoots out rapid-fire beams of radioactive electronic noise, defibrillating beats and monster-movie samples…as refreshing as a slap in the face with a razor...the best way to wake up in the morning, really.” – John Graham, Willamette Week. Check
out sample
tracks on our Downloads page!.
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