I Heart Lung is refined chaos. It is at once tribal drone, free jazz, whisper and rage, improvisation and predestination. A duet of choke-like intensity and raging quiet.
It is the gestalt of guitarist Schlarb and drummer Steck. Schlarb has birthed many and varied musical projects as the mastermind behind the label, Sounds Are Active. He is also a Solo Artist on Asthmatic Kitty, offering the 2007 epic Twilight and Ghost Stories.
Steck's alter-ego
is an award winning visual artist, and creates all of the art seen here.
Blood and Light This image is also a t-shirt!
Blood and Light is the first moment of collaboration, and even then there was an uncanny telepathy, creative pathos, intensity, serenity, chaos, and arbitrary exactness that could only be I Heart Lung. It is I Heart Lung at it's inception, in it's rawest form. It is free. Click on the picture.
Castanets/I Heart Lung Split 12" .
I Heart Lung went on a US tour with Castanets along with Wooden Wand & Vanishing Voice and set the country ablaze in the summer of 2004.
A split 12” featuring two songs from the Castanets on one side and three tracks from I Heart Lung is disappearing fast. For more free sound files, and purchasing info, click on the picture.
The Kannenberg Sessions .
A fortuitious collaboration with Chicago based sound artist/label curator John Kannenberg followed, further enhanced by the low end sorcery of bassist Anthony Shadduck.
Enjoy free sound files and view purchasing info by clicking on the picture.
I Heart Christmas .
In Christmas '06, with jovial frivolity and unsettling Yuletide merriment, we present the humorous side of I Heart Lung. Anthony Shadduck returns! In the spirit of Christmas, it is a free gift. Click on the Picture!
Between Them a Forest Grew, Trackless and Quiet
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The Historic, Epoch-Making Live Album. The Definitive Historical Record. Spanning three years of stellar performances, these are the very best selections (from the recordings that survived various technological apocalypses.) Beautifully produced, and sumptiously packaged. Noteworthy collaborations with Peter Chan, a saxophonic terrorist.
"Meditative yet driving, understated and epic at the same time, this is music which courses through the veins as soothingly as an opiate and as sharply as electricity."- All About Jazz
Interoceans
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Interoceans is the Capstone of Our Monument to New Music. Ambient drones, frenetic improvisation, the restraint of composition, and the solemn space of field recordings are woven together into music that is experienced, not merely listened to.
Features incomparable collaborations with guitarist Nels Cline, pedal steel virtuoso Dave Easley, trumpeter Kris Tiner sound artist Aaron Ximm, Anthony Shadduck and Andrew Pompey. This is our debut on the Asthmatic Kitty label.
MP3 download via Amazon for only $3.96. (Or $.99 for a 10 minute song!)
"It may alter your perception of possibility in music."- L.A. Record
"This compelling of music isn’t easy to come by nowadays. 4 out of 5."- Tiny Mix Tapes
"It's a work of great subtlety and profundity."- All About Jazz
"I Heart Lung succeeds in creating musical moods that other current avant-leaning musicians are incapable of."- Cobwebs and Strange
"Ear-melting nuggets of euphoric drone sounds."- RCRD LBL
"You'll find yourself tuning in and out, but unable and unwanting to disengage."- My Old Kentucky Blog
"Completely self-effacing, flawlessly organized, and painfully emotional- an album that is uncompromising in its vision and audacity—an achievement much greater than money-induced success. 8 out of 10."- Pop Matters
"I Heart Lung’s music is heady improvisational prog-rock — the kind of stuff you might feel will affect weather patterns if you listen to it on headphones."- Kevin Bronson, Buzz Bands
"Obsessively concentrated on anticipation, even as it unfolds layer upon layer of gorgeous instrumentation."- Coke Machine Glow
"I Heart Lung is a strange band, creating music with a strong personal vision, and which is extremely hard to pigeonhole. 4 out of 5."- Free Jazz
This site is managed by Tom Steck, the artist and drummer. For Chris' attention,
he is known to frequent Chris Schlarb.com.
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Thank you, and welcome to a discussion among Music and Theater people, film makers and philosophers, painters and poets. I invite you to my current exhibitions of paintings and poems, and look forward to talking with you. There's no better place for enlightened discussion than in the presence of art.
One show in Phoenix, one in California, one in Miami: TEAPOT TOTEMS AND POEMS @ THE FIREHOUSE artspace 1015 N 1st Street, DOWNTOWN PHOENIX - Open Weekends from 1pm to 6pm
Featuring Ken Boe oil paintings from his Tea Pot Series exhibited with his epic poem "Tatterdemalion Day Dream"
ALSO MIAMI LOCO! Open weekends, 11am to 6pm at MIAMI ART WORKS, 509 Sullivan Street, off highway 60. Miami, Arizona.
CALL 928-273-7679 for an appointment.
(3 Day Closing reception April 17, 18, 19th, 2009. Miami Loco is a group show of some interesting local artists, and the closing party will be an all out show down. )
Just wanted to let you know that you were selected as a featured artist on Indie Street AGAIN. Check it out at http://www. indiestreetradio. com and tell all of your friends!