Mystal Tree - New Growth

I released this album almost 2 months ago. It’s original music inspired by dungeon synth, video game music, progressive rock, and some elements of West African rhythms. This album also features vocals and lyrics concerning an original story of a city built under a mysterious and powerful tree.

Mystal Tree - New Growth

Spring Shows

As usual, I’ve overcompensated for the advent of spring by booking a bunch of shows in a pretty short timespan. Here they are. I’m excited about all of them, especially the NorthEast Dungeon Siege MMXIX, which is the first ever multi-day festival focusing on Dungeon Synth, and the solo set on April 3 (in support of Tyshawn Sorey/Kirsten Carey duo.)

Saturday March 30th, Nahadoth at the Northeast Dungeon Siege (Festival Runs March 29-31.) Worcester, MA.

Wednesday, April 3rd - Adam Matlock (solo) with Tyshawn Sorey + Kirsten Carey Duo). The State House, New Haven, CT. 8 PM.

Saturday, April 6 - The Harris Brothers Balkan Band at Yale Slavic Chorus 50th Anniversary Reunion concert. 7PM. TBA (on Yale Campus)

Tuesday, April 9 - Jill Burton/Wade Michaels/Andrew Drury Trio. With Chris Pitziokos (solo) and Curmudgeon Corner (duo). 7:00 PM, Water House, Hamden (message for address)

Wednesday, April 10 - Kolegi (quartet), with The Suitcase Junket and S.G. Carlson.

Saturday, April 13 - Adam Matlock (solo) with Boat Dares, Shank Painters

Shows in Winter (so far)

Hi All! Happy New Year etc

Today, I released “Fires will Sweep The Cities Built on Our Homes” by Kolessa. This is a follow up to last autumn’s “Ash-Stained Cabinet”, and is Dungeon Synth trying to reconcile with early 20th century modernization, and how that path has continued today. Dedicated to the memory of the Sai Anantam Ashram, where Turiya Alice Coltrane made her home.

My first show of the year was on January 10th, with the new trio Kolegi (featuring Helen Marx on percussion and Brian Slattery on violin). We play together in the Harris Brothers Balkan Band, and this was an opportunity for us to play some tunes that fall a little bit outside of that band’s normal comfort zone, and put some of our own spins on things. We’ll play again on April 10th, at Cafe Nine, supporting the Suitcase Junket.

TONIGHT (January 25), I’ll be performing with the Tri-centric Vocal Ensemble at Roulette in Brooklyn. Two years ago we recorded 12 hours of Anthony Braxton’s vocal music with the composer present, and it was a truly transformative experience. I’m so excited to get back together with all these wonderful musicians and do it again. We will be missing the bass voice and warm presence of Michael Douglas Jones (RIP), and the concert will be performed in his memory.

Then Sunday January 27, I’ll be playing as part of a new series at the State House in New Haven, called Multiplex. It’s a series focusing on improvised music, and so it will be an opportunity for Elm Fiction (with Bob Gorry, Thomas Martin, and Jeff Cedrone) to play again. There will also be 3 other sets, including a quartet led by Stephen Haynes, and duo music by Joe Morris and Dan O’Brien. This starts at 4PM.

Saturday, February 9th, I’ll be playing a duo set with Chris Cretella. We recorded a CD several years ago now, and as it happens, it took us awhile to get the material to release readiness - but now it’s here! There will be sets by Human Flourishing, Lucas Brode, and Henry Fraser as well. At Never Ending Books, starts at 7PM.

Tuesday, February 12th, Dr. Caterwauls plays a set at the Milford Arts Council. We’re excited to be working with them in their own venue, and our set will start at 7:30 PM.

Finally (FOR NOW), I’ll be doing a longer concert at Neighborhood Music School on Friday, February 15. This is a free show, and an important one - I’ll be performing a mix of my own songs and compositions, and maybe one or two transcriptions, in duo form with Brian Slattery. I will have (and take!) the opportunity to play the 9-foot concert grand piano, and who knows, I may make Brian learn a new instrument by then....

Recent Releases vol 2

As I mentioned in a previous post, I released a few short albums recently that I'd love for you to listen to. The second is Deliverer, which is in the sub-micro-genre Dungeon Folk (most often this means music composed in the fashion of dungeon synth but with acoustic instruments in addition to or instead of synths). It is one of the most traditional-sounding dungeon-related albums I've composed, although also has some unavoidable (to me) references to Scandinavian fiddle music and Jewish nigunim. The music was recorded entirely using accordion, tambourine, recorder, and a few layers of my voice. As with the previous release, there's a bit of a short story worked into the album's text on Bandcamp, which may change your experience with the music a bit.

Listen/Download HERE

Upcoming shows and recent releases (vol 1)

Hey all.

Some music of mine has come out recently. I'm going to break it up into a few posts.

The first is "Ash-Stained Cabinet", from a new folk-inspired dungeon synth project entitled Kolessa. The project came as a result of trying some recording on 4-track cassette recorder as a way to break up the flow of some very intensive digital mixing on another project, and once again the directness and simplicity of working with a four track proved to be a creative boon. The project is named after a musicologist and ethnographer from Ukraine, and the flavor text on the album is a kind of fictionalized story connected to him and a certain museum in Vienna...

Stream/Download HERE





I'm performing a few times this week - Thursday, October 18th at The State House in New Haven with Dr. Caterwauls on a stacked bill as part of Elm City Noisefest. The headliners are Coup De Grace, a noise/improv collective reuniting for this event, and there will be sets by Underwear, Nothing Israel, Afraid and Bizarre Rooms as well. Show starts at 8PM! Then Saturday, October 20th with the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio at OrchardStraße in New Haven, also a Noisefest event. Then on November 3rd I'll be performing with the Yale Klezmer Band at the Slifka Center on Wall Street in New Haven. This concert is free and we have a great new lineup of players to support the returning students. That show begins at 7:30. Later in the month, on November 9th, I'll be doing a solo accordion set at OrchardStraße in support of the album release and tour kickoff of Matt Gannon/Michael Larocca duo. Further info on that is incoming.

Excavernous Tales release, and two shows

Now available: Excavernous Tales, a split release with Sreng (the artist formerly known as Argonath). 12 tracks of brooding, subterranean dungeon synth, available at The Nahadoth Bandcamp Page.  A tape edition will be available soon from Celtic Wraith Records.

I’ve got two performances coming up this coming weekend that I’m excited about.

On Friday, September 7th, I’m playing duo with Mike Larocca, a percussionist. This is fun in and of itself, but what’s truly weird is that one of the other bands on the bill is also an accordion/drum duo. This may be an historic evening for that reason alone. The touring act is Boat Dares; Conor Perrault (of Human Flourishing) is also playing a solo set. Show is 7:00PM, Never Ending Books, New Haven, CT.

Then on Saturday, September 8th, Christopher Bousquet of American Elm and myself are opening for Paul Belbusti of Mercy Choir, who has taken a self-imposed hiatus from performances over the last year. This should be a fun show, and it’s entirely possible that Paul has whole albums worth of new material he’s written in the last year, but I’m told he’ll be playing some of the hits too. Show is 9:00 PM, at Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT.

Coming up, after talking about it for awhile, I’m near to complete with preparations to launch the first releases through Hyper Sigil Tapes. Stay tuned for more.

Taur Nu Fuin - Kolarbyn, and a few upcoming shows

Very pleased to announced the release of Taur Nu Fuin's Kolarbyn, an epic, well composed/realized album of dungeon synth from New Zealand artist Sean O'Kane Connelly. I recorded some accordion for the album, and it's used in a really clever, thorough way in several places on the album, alongside some really expertly 'orchestrated' synth layers. Check out the link above!

Got a couple of shows coming up this week, and throughout the rest of the month.

Thursday, July 12th - Crazy Doberman/Underwear/Cretella Matlock Paolucci - Crunch House, West Haven, CT. 8:00 PM. This will be a banger. Crazy Doberman is noise/processing/tenor sax, equal parts menacing and ambient. Underwear is semi-improvised 90s pop that is a treat to hear and see live. And this will be the first live performance of the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio, which is guitar, accordion/voice, and drums, in which a bunch of improvisers try and find their pocket.

Friday, July 13th - Allysen Callery, Birth of Flower, An Historic, New London Drone Collective. Willimantic Records, Willimantic, CT. 7:00 PM. Birth of Flower is one of my favorite bands. I have never heard Allysen or the NLDC, but I am excited to hear them both.

Saturday, July 14th - Sitting in with The Hot Club of Black Rock at Rothbard Ale and Larder, Westport, CT. Sets at 6:30 and 8:00 PM. Django-style hot jazz. My first time with this group!

Saturday July 21st - Dr. Caterwauls Featuring Anne Rhodes performing The Music of The Simpsons at the Central Library (Jamaica) branch of the Queens Library, 2:00PM (EARLY!).

Tuesday, July 24th - Dr. Caterwauls + Friends performing The Music of Nino Rota at Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.

Wednesday, August 1st - Curmudgeon Corner (Anne Rhodes/Adam Matlock) on a bill with Evan Miller, Federico Balducci, and Human Flourishing. At Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.