Bent Arcana

Bent Arcana formed as an improvisatory collective drawing players from Oh Sees, TV on the Radio, Sunwatchers, and additional ensembles. Its self-titled debut arrived in 2020 as a collection of spontaneous, free-flowing sessions captured across five days and shaped by currents from 1970s hard fusion, prog, and Krautrock. Following a series of further improv releases issued under the names of the individual participants rather than the ensemble itself, the group delivered Live Zebulon in 2022.

John Dwyer of Oh Sees convened the musicians at Stu-Stu-Studio, his Los Angeles home facility, during December 2019. Dwyer handled guitar, synthesizers, percussion, and tape loops while Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio contributed modular synthesizer. Percussion came from Ryan Sawyer and Andres Renteria, Peter Kerlin of Sunwatchers supplied bass, and saxophones were played by Brad Caulkins and Joce Soubiran. Marcos Rodriguez added guitar and Laena “Geronimo” Myers-Ionita played violin. The recordings were trimmed to a 38-minute album issued by Castle Face in August 2020.

Throughout 2021 a shifting roster that again included many of the original musicians plus Tomas Dolas and Greg Coates produced several more albums. Witch Egg, bearing a fusion-like character, appeared in January. Endless Garbage followed as a noisy, percussive improv set. Moon-Drenched emerged in May with a psychedelic cast, and Gong Splat closed the year in a Krautrock vein. Live Zebulon, captured during a concert after the release of Bent Arcana, came out in 2022.