Gang mentality or strength in numbers is a most popular practice and for good reason. However, as great as the pull of belonging to (and getting protection from) the collective is, there is also a joyous sense of freedom that comes from doing your own thing…if you can pull it off. Since, idk, FOREVER (or at least a couple of decades), John Wiese has been “doing his own thing,” and in ways others can only dream of pulling off. It is a testament to Wiese’s vision that his life plays out away from conventional “bands,” making music that is always uneasy, instinctual, and sonically challenging, on his own terms.
Wiese’s latest exercise in forward-thinking free improv, the one-sided, one-song record Escaped Language, is coming out September 20 on Gilgongo Records. Recorded during Ina/GRM’s 2016 Présences Électronique Festival in Paris, Escaped Language is a contrasting mind trip to the 2015 collab-heavy Deviate From Balance — in that it is a 100% solo-assembled rumination, offering proof that, yup, often the best thing to be is to be a Gang of One.
Btw — record release day is also tour start day for Wiese, as he will embark on an extended set of dates opening for the ever-engrossing Zola Jesus, beginning in L.A. at the Regent Theater on September 20. This tour (dates below) is something of an unconventional music fan’s wet dream, as both musicians have new albums out, and are never less than riveting live. So: see you out there, my fellow gangs of one!
Sprawling Escaped Language tracklist:
01. Escaped Language
Live Wiese:
09.20.17 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent Theater *
09.21.17 - San Diego, CA - Casbah *
09.22.17 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar *
09.23.17 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf *
09.25.17 - Dallas, TX - The Kessler Theater *
09.26.17 - Austin, TX - The North Door *
09.27.17 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia *
09.28.17 - Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5 *
09.29.17 - Asheville, NC - The Mothlight *
09.30.17 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall *
10.01.17 - Boston, MA - ICA *
10.03.17 - Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA *
10.04.17 - Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade *
10.06.17 - Toronto, ON - Longboat Hall *
10.07.17 - Detroit, MI - Assemble Sound *
10.08.17 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall *
10.09.17 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theater *
10.10.17 - St. Paul, MN - Amsterdam Bar & Hall *
10.11.17 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room *
10.13.17 - Denver, CO - Globe Hall *
10.14.17 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge *
10.16.17 - Oakland, CA - Starline Social Club *
10.17.17 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent *
10.19.17 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile *
10.20.17 - Portland, OR - The Old Church *
10.27-11.05-17 - Acra, NY - Wave Farm (Wave Farm Residency)
11.07-11.17.17 - St. Louis, MO - TBA (New Music Circle Residency)
11.18.17 - Chicago, IL - Lampo at The Graham Foundation
* Zola Jesus