Euphone

Put yourself in a smoky Chicago nightclub in 1997.

The local scene is an eclectic batch of multitalented instrumentalists banding together as incestuous collectives and far-reaching genre-expanding megabands. And then you notice Ryan Rapsys, alone, stepping onstage with only a drum set, a vintage keyboard, and a simple sequencer. With two hands and two feet, he manages to accomplish what some bands can't do with a six-person lineup. You're not the only person stunned. Rapsys, a former member of local post-punk heroes Gauge, conceived the Euphone alter-ego as far back as 1994, when his love for dub, jazz, tropicalia, and other rhythm-centric musical ventures began to eclipse his interest in homespun punk rock.

By 1996, Rapsys signed on to John Hughes, Jr.'s Hefty label, where he issued Euphone's self-titled debut album, honed his deftly refreshing live act, and then released the critically acclaimed Breaking Parole EP in 1998 - all the while playing in Sub Pop's Heroic Doses and occasionally sitting in for Chicago staples like Five Style and Joan Of Arc. Later that year, Rapsys recruited his Heroic Doses band mate and bassist Nick Macri into the fold and went in to record the first in a pair of lush and genre-symbiotic albums for Jade Tree.

Their latest record, Hashin' It Out, is the first to include Lonesome Organist and fellow one-man-band member Jeremy Jacobsen on guitar, continuing to reassess and expand upon the themes that Rapsys first began, erm, hashin' out in 1994.

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