Eric Hubel's bio has him associated with Glen Branca, a minimalist composer in the style of Philip Glass or Terry Riley. Hubel played this unusual extended thumb piano which was attached to at least seven looping effect pedals and multiple iPods. Each "note" of the thumb piano was comprised of three metal tabs of increasing length. Strumming the notes made an exotic chord sound that was looped and layered with drum and percussion sounds. The thumb piano is usually small, handheld and is often played to color African music. Here, with an expanded size and electronic backbone, the music sounded like a harp or church organ. The percussion drove the sound with many tunes having the psychedelic kraut-rock feel. One song had decidedly Latin percussion which expanded the palate further. Once developing the songs loops, Hubel often picked up a mini 4-string electric guitar and maniacally thrashed at one note, these songs sounded like you were being chased by a swarm of insects or frozen in the climax of some Hitchcock film score. Once his set finished, it took him quite a while to untangle the nest of electronics and power cords..
Haakedepiccioto is the husband and wife duo of Alexander Haake and Danielle DePiccioto. Haake played bass in the second wave Berlin-based krautrock group Einstuzende Neubaten while US ex-pat DePiccioto is a minimalist composer. Haake was an imposing figure who looked like Josef Zawinul was trapped on a goth desert island with a cipher-based tattoo artist. He played guitar, laptop, and a tribal drum. Danielle played violin, zither, and hurdy-gurdy. Both sang simple lyrics, with Haake doing some Tuvan throat singing. Throughout the set, the laptop was programmed to play creepy wind noises. The duo describe themselves as modern day nomads, ditching their Berlin flat and wandering the world offering their brand of ominous music.
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