Guitarist Chris Forsyth's hypnotic compositions assimilate art rock texture with folk, blues, and experimental influences. Long active in underground circles as a member of Peeesseye, he's released a series of acclaimed records over the past few years, including his 2011 LP Paranoid Cat on Family Vineyard and Early Astral, a 2012 duo LP with Mountains' Koen Holtkamp on Blackest Rainbow. His 2012 Kenzo Deluxe LP/CD on Northern Spy has been described as "resonant [and] incisive... a cosmic abstraction of the American guitar tradition, reducing blues, rock, folk and improvisation into their spare, hypnotic base elements." (Philadelphis City Paper). In October 2013, Paradise of Bachelors will release his most ambitious full-band recording yet, the immerseive four-part suite Solar Motel. According to critic Tony Rettman, "sneak listens to Solar Motel hint that the best has yet to be heard. Solar Motel is broken up into four parts, each of them escalating in sequence with head-swelling psychedelic bliss while showcasing Forsyth's equal admiration for the guitar interplay of both Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd of Television and Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. It serves as a perfect example of what Forsyth calls his music: Cosmic Americana." In anticipation of this release, Forsyth has assembled the stellar Solar Motel Band, featuring guitarist Paul Sukeena (Spacin'), drummer Steve Urgo (ex The War on Drugs), and longtime collaborator Peter Kerlin on bass. Download hi res photos here and here. Photo credit: Maria Dumlao

"...an erudite and farsighted guitar stylist, mapping a path that's hip and scholarly in equal measure." - Daniel Spicer, The Wire Magazine

"Kenzo Deluxe sits at the strange border of cock rock and raga... Forsyth seems to exhume and then exploit the entire defunct history of American guitar culture." - Ed Commentale, Tiny Mix Tapes