Dave Grohl may hate the role of the computer in contemporary music — he raises a worthwhile point about what is being lost — but Phantogram ably exemplifies that not all electronica is created equal. Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter put on a killer live show where the guitar is just as important as the synth elements, and the result just might be the perfect melding of the two genres. They went down to Moog’s Sound Lab last year and offered the world a re-imagined version of their (as-of-then unreleased) song, “16 Years”.
Moog, of course, is not only one of the technological leaders in contemporary music but also the namesake of the three-day Moogfest honoring musical technology pioneer, Bob Moog, around Halloween each year in Asheville, NC. ‘Tis a lovely time of the year in the Black Mountains, and Asheville merits a visit for any arts aficionado who wants to crosstrain their ears and their eyes in a town known for producing some of the best artists of the 21st century, including Josef Albers, Franz Kline, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombley, Robert Motherwell, Walter Gropius and Willem de Kooning. Oh, and a guy you may know better by way of his son‘s success on the silver screen, Robert De Niro, Sr.
So, you see, not everything that is “produced” is inherently bad. That’s right, Mr. Grohl….I’m talkin’ to you.
