The Light is Real: Thollem, Terry Riley, and Nels Cline (LP)

Other Minds is pleased to present The Light is Real, featuring the trio of Thollem (voice and wavestate synthesizer), Terry Riley (voice), and Nels Cline (electric guitars, effects, and megamouth). This recording is the sixth iteration of the Thollem/Cline trio, with previous installments including performances by William Parker, Pauline Oliveros, and Michael Wimberly.The origins of this recording go back to an epiphany Thollem experienced in Northern New Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic. While watching the sunlight stream through a window, two thoughts came to him: “the light is real” and “Terry Riley.” Soon after proposing a collaboration to Riley, the pair were meeting online to vocalize, investigating breath and light together across a 10 hour time difference. Thollem sampled these recordings using his synthesizer and invited Nels Cline to record with him in response to the recordings with Riley. The result of that process is The Light is Real.