LFZ

Sean Smith, the California musician earlier recognized for his solo acoustic finger-picked guitar work and electric neo-psychedelia recordings, pursues ambient music through the solo project LFZ. Synthesizers, electronic effects, and guitars combine to generate dense yet minimalist soundscapes that contemplate the cycle of life and death. The project first surfaced on a self-titled 2015 release, after which several additional cassettes appeared before Castle Face issued the 2018 album Name Plus Focus.

Originally located in San Francisco, Smith started releasing New American Primitive-style acoustic guitar albums in 2003. These included well-regarded efforts on the Bay Area labels Isota Records and Tompkins Square, among them 2005’s Sean Smith and the 2010 holiday recording Christmas. He also performed with the psychedelic rock band Citay on their 2010 album Dream Get Together, while his own music grew heavier, electric, and more experimental, as heard on 2011’s Huge Fluid Freedom. Further activity included the instrumental rock trio Twin Trilogy, which released a one-sided record in 2014, and the Black Sabbath tribute band Bobb Saggeth.

LFZ debuted with the self-titled 2015 release, featuring two extended, partially improvised pieces that reflected on the death of Smith’s father and recalled the work of Terry Riley and Fripp & Eno. Issued simultaneously was Pointless Prism, a cassette of brief, one-take synthesizer improvisations. After relocating to Los Angeles, Smith began issuing a series of homemade LFZ improvisation tapes titled Sketches of Jupiter. Concerts in California and New York followed, with bills shared alongside artists such as Jonas Reinhardt and Steve Gunn. Castle Face released the LFZ album Name Plus Focus in 2018.