Anthology is set to issue a collection of recordings from Philadelphia /
New Jersey experimental synth ensemble, The Nightcrawlers, in the Spring
of 2018. The retrospective will cull from a staggering amount of material
- 40+ cassette tapes - the trio released from 1979 through their demise in
the early 90s under their Synkronos Music label imprint.
Brothers Tom and Peter Gulch began recording as The Nightcrawlers in 1979
and recruited Dave Lunt shortly thereafter. Their collaborations drew
influence from the cosmic minimalism of the Berlin School (Klaus Schulze /
Tangerine Dream) and other European MIDI forebears (Cluster, Popul Vuh, et
al).
As early 80s Philly leaned hard into radical politics and New Wave zeal,
the Nightcrawlers retreated to light-less spaces, capturing their fully
improvised, all-nighter sessions on cassette + JVC boombox. Minimal, filmic
tones livened with the spacey intricacies of early Moog experimentation
("Phase II: Orbital Descent") were balanced in biotic, New Age themes true
to their appellation ("Fungi [Fungus, Molds, Mushrooms]"). Material was
often fleshed out in live performances as a scene of likeminded artists
(Charles Cohen, Chuck van Zyl) formed around Philadelphia's Painted Bride
Arts Center and St. Mary's Parish Hall.
