“It all began when Asa Osborne was performing at the Perspectives Festival in Sweden, where he met Hanna [Olivegren] through a mutual friend in the Skull Defekts,” says the bio for avant-drone duo (sometimes solo, sometimes trio) Zomes. “During Osborne’s performance, Hanna, a vocalist, ended up improvising along with the music with stunning results.”
Zomes has started as a solo project for Osborne, a former member of Baltimore-based Lungfish (he’s also collaborated with Charles Brohawn of The Tinklers under the name Tear Jerks, and with Lungfish front man Daniel Higgs under the name The Pupils). Zomes’ 2011 album, Earth Grid, was described as “no singing, no rhythmic turns, no complex structures or abrupt changes in tone. Each song relies on patience and repetition to produce its particular effect” by Pitchfork; tracks from just-released Time Was reveal more pop sensibility — largely thanks to Olivegren’s resonant vocal — but are still concerned with patience, repetition, and meditative explorations.
The band is currently on tour (rare for them), and Olivegren will fly over from Sweden to take part. Zomes performs at Apothecary on Friday, April 26. Mendocino and Gardener, both from Asheville, also share the stage. 9 p.m.
