LIVE: Blissed Out @ Saratoga Arts Center, 2/23/10

Get Blissed!

Saratoga Arts launched its 2010 music series “[email protected] Arts” on Tuesday night, with headliners Blissed Out capping off a trio of experimental music performances.

Blissed Out – the Brooklyn-based electronic music duo of Alex Winter and Sasha Winn – sat on the floor and played a variety of synthesizers, drum machines and sound-effects boxes, as they wove together a continuous sound tapestry made up of different compositions ranging from dance-club grooves to new-age drones.

Starting off the evening Fossils From the Sun (aka, Ray Hare) blended electronically manipulated vocals with electric guitar and a wide variety of sound effects to deliver several interesting and diverse compositions.

Following the intermission, Eric Hardiman’s solo project Rambutan combined electronic keyboards, synthesizers, electric guitar effects and distorted vocals to create unique soundscapes that transported the Arts Center Gallery into an alternate musical dimension.

And while the snow flew outside, video artist 1983 supplied plenty of indoor visual stimulus, as an array of video images rhythmically flashed onto the screen behind the performers, who were nestled in and around Margo Mensing’s exhibit “It’s Not Unusual,” filled with found objects, unique sculptures and installations.

Review and photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk