Rhyton

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Rhyton are an adventurous indie rock band whose compositions, rooted in improvisation, are informed by psychedelia, world music, and contemporary experimental music. Most of the time, the trio works within the traditional rock framework of guitar, bass, and drums (with the occasional addition of keyboards and additional stringed instruments), but the languid, open-ended drift of their melodies gives them room to explore that takes them far afield from most indie bands. The group's 2011 debut album introduced their sound, they found a more confident, better-focused groove on 2014's Kykeon, and 2021's Pharaonic Crosstalk, recorded after a five-year break, saw them in potent and lively form. Rhyton was formed by guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Dave Shuford (who had previously worked with D. Charles Speer & the Helix, and the No-Neck Blues Band), bassist and keyboard player Jimy SeiTang (ex-Psychic Ills), and drummer Spencer Herbst (whose résumé included stints with Matta Llama and Messages). After establishing their sound as a live band, the three musicians went into the studio and recorded their first album in a mere three days. Teaming with the venerable indie label Thrill Jockey, Rhyton's self-titled debut was released in 2011 in a limited edition of 500 LPs and 200 hand-numbered CD-Rs. A second album, The Emerald Tablet, appeared in 2012; another limited edition, it was a joint release from Three Lobed Recordings and Divided by Zero Records. Rhyton returned to Thrill Jockey for their third album, 2014's Kykeon, which introduced drummer Rob Smith, previously with Pigeons, who joined shortly after Herbst left the lineup. The British MIE Music imprint issued 2015's Navigating by Starlight, an LP which included two side-long compositions. They were doing business with Thrill Jockey again for 2016's Redshift. Various concerns kept the members of Rhyton occupied over the next several years, and it wasn't until 2021 that the group returned with fresh music with Pharaonic Crosstalk released by Feeding Tube Records.
© Mark Deming /TiVo