Thursday, April 12, 2012
Things I Love / Music Ben Greenberg of the Men embarks on a spacey solo mission
Posted by Luca Cimarusti on 04.12.12 at 07:17 AM
A few weeks ago Mark Perro of Brooklyn's premiere post-everything hardcore band, the Men, appeared in the Reader's Artist on Artist feature. For the past year it's been nearly impossible to avoid seeing some kind of coverage on the Men, resulting in packed warehouse gigs across the country and a spot on this summer's Pitchfork lineup. Late last year, Ben Greenberg joined the group as their new bass player. If his name sounds familiar, that might be because he's apparently involved in every cool thing happening in the New York underground right now. He plays guitar in experimental collective Zs; till recently he fronted punk-rock weirdos Pygmy Shrews (whose You People Can All Go Straight to Hell was one of my favorite releases of last year); and he's recorded bands such as Vaz, Twin Stumps, Pop. 1280, and Drunkdriver. Greenberg returns to Chicago this weekend for CIMMfest with his solo project Hubble.
Hubble sounds kind of like a cross between Tangerine Dream and a Greg Ginn guitar solo. Greenberg is able to create a trancelike aura with mind-numbing guitar acrobatics—he uses looping and oscillating finger taps to give his tone a dreamy, spacey feel.
On Fri 4/13, Hubble plays at the Wicker Park Art Center at 9:30 PM as part of CIMMfest. Also on the bill is Adult., and both acts will perform live film scores. On Sat 4/14, he'll play on the air at WHPK and WNUR.
Here's an awesome live video of Hubble on a rooftop:
Like what you hear? Listen to more at the Hubble Soundcloud page or buy his records from Northern Spy.
