Subtle

Formed in 2001, the group coalesced when Amoeba Music staffers and musicians Jel (Jeffrey Logan) and Doseone (Adam Drucker), already members of the Anticon outfit Themselves, began collaborating with Dax Pierson and felt an immediate rapport. They soon brought aboard woodwind player Marty Dowers, guitarist Jordan Dalrymple, and cellist Alexander Kort, all prior associates of Pierson, thereby establishing Subtle, whose lineup featured Jel handling percussion, Pierson contributing keys and autoharp plus additional instruments, and Doseone supplying vocals. Following several 12" singles and a handful of EPs, the band issued A New White on Lex Records in 2004. The following February a tour van skidded on black ice, leaving Pierson paralyzed from the chest down, yet the ensemble continued onward. In 2006 they delivered the remix-and-collaboration EP Wishingbone, then aligned with EMI to release their second album, For Hero: For Fool, which incorporated Pierson’s vocals and harmonica and appeared jointly via Lex; the related recording Yell & Ice followed in late 2007. Maintaining their steady output, Exiting Arm arrived in spring 2008.