BIOGRAPHY
White Out: A means of obliterating the written word. A crippling weather condition. A jarring form of cinematic transition. A band.
Formed in 1995, arising from the lower depths of New York’s pre-gentrified Chelsea section, White Out thrust their original brand of experimental sound onto an unsuspecting public overloaded with Grunge and its immediate aftermath, and secretly yearning for a new musical direction.
White Out (whose core membership consists of Lin Culbertson: analogue synths, autoharp, flute, mystery electronics and otherworldly vocals, and Tom Surgal: drums, devices, celestial bells etc.) continue on in their unwavering assault of the sound/silence continuum, generating a healthy mixture of fear, spatial disorientation, cosmic ennui, and occasional beauty in their sonic wake.
Seven albums in, working with a variety of labels like Northern Spy, Ecstatic Peace, ATP, audioMER and No Fun, White Out has accumulated an impressive array of enablers along the way, including Thurston Moore, Nels Cline, Jim O’Rourke, William Winant, Carlos Giffoni, and Spencer Yeh among others.
In March 2011, White Out capitalized on their multifarious connections with their fellow musical brethren by curating a month at John Zorn’s performance space The Stone, presenting 54 shows in total.
White Out’s latest release is entitled Accidental Sky, a collaboration with longtime friend and compatriot Nels Cline, on the Northern Spy label.
RELEASES
Visit our BANDCAMP page for information on our releases.
Here are a couple of playlists.
MORE MUSIC available on BANDCAMP:
LP and Download Available
w/ Jim O’Rourke and Thurston Moore
CD Available
w/ Carlos Giffoni and Spencer Yeh
LP Available
Compilation from Scissor Tail Records
White Out Goes to the Movies
FIRE MUSIC
FIRE MUSIC is a feature-length documentary film that tells the story of the revolution in sound that is Free Jazz.
About the Project
Although the free jazz movement of the 1960s and ‘70s was much maligned in some jazz circles, its pioneers – brilliant talents like Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, and John Coltrane – are today acknowledged as central to the evolution of jazz as America’s most innovative art form. FIRE MUSIC showcases the architects of a movement whose radical brand of improvisation pushed harmonic and rhythmic boundaries, and produced landmark albums like Coleman’s Free Jazz: A Collective Inspiration and Coltrane’s Ascension. A rich trove of archival footage conjures the 1960s jazz scene along with incisive reflections by critic Gary Giddins and a number of the movement’s key players.
VISIT THE WEBSITE
NOW AVAILABLE ON THE CRITERION CHANNEL