Excepter

During the summer of 2002, New York City became the birthplace of Excepter. The founding lineup brought together DJs John Fell Ryan, whose contributions spanned vocals, synths, drum box, and electronics, and Dan Hougland, who handled synths, drum box, electronics, and piano, together with the husband-and-wife duo Calder Martin on vocals, guitar, and percussion and Caitlin Cook on vocals and dancing. United by a shared interest in probing the esoteric dimensions of house and experimental music, the collective soon welcomed Macrae Semans, another participant in the New York club DJ circuit. Fusetron released the group’s debut LP, Ka, in 2003. Semans exited the following year to begin an M.F.A. program at UCLA, prompting the addition of Nathan Corbin on synths, drum box, drums, and electronics. Two further albums, Self Destruction and Throne, surfaced in 2005. That same year Excepter dismissed Cook and Martin, brought in DJ Jon Nicholson, and started work on the material that would form the Sunbomber EP, issued by 5 Rue Christine in 2006.