Rare Frequencies: Trouble and treble

Inimitable Maine dada-noise artist CRANK STURGEON comes to town this Saturday for a show at the semi-regular Open Sound experimental-music series at Third Life Studios. Crank’s performances are nothing if not memorable events, filled with costumes and contact mics and all manner of strange devices that will boggle your mind and ears both. Here’s the word from the man himself:

“I have all sorts of accidents planned for the Third Life show! I've recruited a small bundle of troublemakers to help lay the foundations for this night — notably the gentlemen behind the Boston free-skronk duo Skinny Vinny, as well as wife/husband team Dei Xchrist & Marc Bisson, who feature in various improv collaborations, like Birdorgan and Bop Ants. Although we’re still concocting this evening's engagement, there’s definitely a giddy/reckless faith behind the engines — an unspoken acknowledgment that we all operate on that if something breaks, it can only get better!”

If it’s a little sonic bliss you’re seeking (and you’d like to stay home), take a listen to Miniatures, the latest release by local sound artist ASHER. It’s a gentle but typically ambitious album: two CDs of drifting piano dissolved in soft, granular hiss. Provided you have the time and the inclination, you should try to listen to the whole kit and kaboodle straight through. It’s out now on Asher’s own Sourdine label, and you can listen to samples of earlier work by Asher on his Myspace page.

CRANK STURGEON + CHARLES KOHLHASE’S EXPLORER’S QUARTET + GRIZZLER | Open Sound at Third Life Studio, 33 Union Sq, Somerville | April 25 at 8 pm | $8 suggested donation | 617.628.0916 or www.opensound.org

LISTEN: Asher, (Untitled) (mp3)