Excerpt from “Vapor 1” by The Square Root of Negative Two (Robin Amos + Blaik Ripton) with visuals by Allison Tanenhaus. Debuted at Mistery Machine 2021 (https://benthaus.art/mistery-machine) and presented with new visuals at Porchfest 2021 (https://allisontanenhaus.com/porchfest).
The Square Root of Negative Two (https://allisontanenhaus.com/squareroot) is a Boston-based electronic group specializing in atmospheric synth melodies, propulsive rhythms, and mind-bending glitch art visuals. Their dynamic vibes range from lush euphoric peaks to dark disturbing depths.
Lineup:
Robin Amos (synth)
- a pioneer in numerous genres, including electronic synth (Square Root of Negative Two, V1), garage rock (Two Much), art-punk (The Girls), post-punk (Shut Up), post-rock (Cul de Sac), and black metal (Infera Bruo)
- he’s played 700+ gigs in 16 countries since 1975
- created soundtracks for films by Roger Corman, Doris Wishman, and F.W. Murnau
- https://www.robinamos.com
Blaik Ripton (synth)
- started out as a skateboarder playing drums in a hardcore punk band in New York City, where he shared the stage with then-unknown Beastie Boys
- a sonic explorer in multiple genres, including punk, post-punk, indie, ska, synthpop, electronica, and folk
- his fun and unusual children’s music (PlaySoundz) topped the charts on WFMU and a radio station in Rome, and has been featured on NPR and WGBH TV
Allison Tanenhaus (glitch art visuals)
- creative endeavors began in street art, with appearances (both sanctioned and guerrilla-style) in 17 countries
- a self-taught glitch artist, she now makes trippy music videos, installations, and projections using just her smartphone
- past music gigs include college radio DJ; intern for MTV News, J Records, and Tiger Beat; high-school roadie and merch girl; and graphic designer for the New England Synth Fest
- https://allisontanenhaus.com/music-art