Rhythmotomy

Rhythmotomy came together in 1993 as a percussion ensemble after its four members first encountered one another at a drum circle in Thousand Oaks, California. Such circles had gained traction as an offshoot of poet Robert Bly’s men’s movement, yet the surrounding new-age atmosphere exerted minimal influence on the band’s developing aesthetic. Steve Sandstedt, Jim Long, Tom Hollow, and Bob Dreisbach blend atmospheric layers with world-music ingredients, producing work that feels purposefully unbound and intermittently psychedelic—more intense than new-age norms permit. Their instruments range from artillery casings and shaman drums to Tibetan singing bowls and any object capable of being struck, all in service of what the members have described as an effort to “bridge the space between dance and dreams.” Fred Albright and Zitro stand among the quartet’s key mentors. Across their lengthy existence the group has released only one recording, the self-released and favorably received 2002 album Rhythmotomy.