Restiform Bodies

A mysterious and highly experimental hip-hop group, Restiform Bodies deconstruct rap with the same approach that bands like Sonic Youth and Swans took toward punk in the early '80s. Often harsh, moody, and quite bizarre, the troupe is made up of songwriter/vocalist David Bryant (Passage); percussionist and beatmaker Matt Valerio (the Bomarr Monk); and synth, sample, and effects slayer George Chadwick (Telephone Jim Jesus). Inspired by electronica Read more on Last.fm …read full bio

A mysterious and highly experimental hip-hop group, Restiform Bodies deconstruct rap with the same approach that bands like Sonic Youth and Swans took toward punk in the early '80s. Often harsh, moody, and quite bizarre, the troupe is made up of songwriter/vocalist David Bryant (Passage); percussionist and beatmaker Matt Valerio (the Bomarr Monk); and synth, sample, and effects slayer George Chadwick (Telephone Jim Jesus). Inspired by electronica, ghetto-tech, prog rock, and vintage R&B, the group took an aggressively inspired view of the genre, taking alternative rap beyond the fringes already established by Kool Keith and Cannibal Ox. Often sounding more like Stereolab than any other point of reference, the group's unique sound and image led to a deal with Anticon Records (a collective that Bryant belongs to), which released their 2002 eponymous debut, as well as 2008's TV Loves You Back. ~ Bradley Torreano, Rovi Restiform Bodies are David Bryant-vocalist and song writer, Matt Valerio- percussionist and beat-maker & George Chadwick-synth, sample and effects slayer. In 2000 they made a tape called "Oubliette," and caught the attention of Oakland's then young experimental hip hop collective, anticon. Once in Oakland RB began what they refer to affectionately as an adventure in "total career ambivalence".Repeatedly dodging the bullet of a follow up to their S/T release on anticon's deceased in-house distributor and label imprint, 6 months distribution, the three focused instead on developing songs for performance with live electronics, resulting in a metric ton of songs and zero grams of vinyl. The joke is that the three can seldom be found in the same room, even though they lived together for all intents and purposes throughout high school, which may ironically be the puzzle buster of their story. Since 2000 Restiform Bodies have toured in support of their self titled LP (an organized version of the bedroom cassette) and their various individual projects. They have each recorded at the very least one solo release, and at last their debut record for anticon, TV LOVES YOU BACK, which may or may not pay off the computer. Sound check casualties include but are not limited to: Sole, Dose One, Alias, Why? Themselves, Subtle, Arcade Fire, Sage Francis, Atmosphere, Animal Collective, The Unicorns, The Faint, Broken Spindles, and Of Montreal Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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…shrink me down again