Panopticon by Panopticon

Panopticon was a band on the Seattle experimental music scene from 1998-2000, gigging at now-forgotten venues like Re-bar and the Rainbow Room. Their energetic, delirious, genre-hopping instrumentals drew comparisons to Frank Zappa. (Critters Buggin was a more credible - and local - influence.)

Marc & Kevin had met and played together previously in the ambitious & volatile trio "dot.communists" (1997). Sherri and Kevin were already friends going back to time together in Minneapolis. To round things out on guitar, they first recruited Neal (Hallmark) and then Aaron (we can't remember his last name now). Almost all Panopticon tunes were germinated and stitched together as a collective in a sweaty, cramped Chophouse practice room on Capitol Hill. Calling this songwriting process "laborious" would be a huge understatement.

Some live recordings exist, and a demo recorded on 8-track cassette. But what we have here is Panopticon's first and only semi-professional recording effort. Having recorded these rough tracks over a weekend in the spring of 2000, the band promptly broke up, exhausted, leaving the recording in limbo. No overdubs happened. No rough mix was made at the time. These raw tracks were trapped on ADAT for 17 years before the music was heard again. Without any overdubs, the recordings are "live in studio," warts and all.

So - here's a time capsule from a decidedly weird old Seattle band. May you enjoy it in all its roughness and live energy.

I'm a multi-instrumentalist with eclectic tastes.

Watch this space for forthcoming ambient music of various flavors. Give me a follow for announcements of new releases.