Emperor X + Pretty & Nice

MONDAY, JUNE 22 | 8PM | $6

How can I explain Emperor X? He’s a one-of-a-kind gritty lo-fi analog recording masterpiece genius. Or something like that. I first encountered Emperor X years ago as he and his band played an incredible set for five people in a basement. Since then, I’ve seen him play sets where he backed himself up entirely with a cassette recorder, on which he’d spent the day recording backup parts for himself in the van on the way to the show. Or on another occasion he rigged up the same tape deck with a crappy mic which he used to generate live analog reverb. More recently, he’s hidden master tapes containing secret tracks from his most recent album/project in various places around the US, which can be located and recovered by an adventurous someone using the GPS coordinates hidden on his website. Point being, the guy is extremely talented, creative, and has an approach to his craft that’s way outside the box. Do yourself a favor and get to know his material before the show. It’s somewhat dense, totally unique, and extremely rewarding. He’ll be backed up on this tour by a band called I Need Sleep, who are also awesome.