Ezekiel Honig
EZEKIEL HONIG
Biography:
A New York City native, and founder/label manager for the Anticipate and Microcosm labels, Ezekiel Honig concentrates on his idiosyncratic brand of emotively warm electronic-acoustic music. Using the loop as more of a tool than a rule, Honig paints outside the lines, nestling into a comfortable space between techno, house and ambient - using them as reference points from which to stray, rather than as steadfast frameworks. Drawing on the rich history of musique concrete, Honig looks to incorporate a material nature into his music by imbuing it with a host of field recording/found-sound sources in the search for a balance between digital software innovation and the physicality of the world around us. His music is one of contrast and contradiction, combining minimal, abstract tendencies with a core of timeless harmonics - pairing fuzzy chords with clunky and dirty "mishaps."

Following an incremental shift through a number of critically acclaimed releases, Honig's work has been featured in The Wire (UK), XLR8R (USA), The Village Voice (USA), De:Bug (Germany), Textura (Canada), Flavorpill/Earplug (USA), Time Out New York (USA), Spex (Germany), Urb (USA), TRAX (France) and many other publications worldwide. His personal musical movement has been directly linked with the development of the Anticipate and Microcosm labels. Spending as much time on curatorial activities and label management as he does on his own music production has afforded Honig a unique viewpoint from which to work, and informs his activities in multiple stages of the musical process, as well as offering him the chance to collaborate with other artists.

In addition to his studio releases and label work, Honig performs live consistently, and, in this setting, strives to push beyond the boundaries of the recorded material. His improvisational approach combines loops and elements from various songs with on-the-fly arrangements, editing and effects. Viewing the recorded material as a constantly shifting body of work leaves space for serendipitous moments and leads to each set being an individualized rework, referencing and reprocessing itself. As a result of this flexibility to tailor sets to the environment, Honig's performances have been known to take the form of deep after-hours techno, rhythmic near-ambient or heartbeat-driven installation.
Anticipate combines elements of electro-acoustics, ambient, slow motion techno and found house with traces of filtered influences ranging from jazz, post rock, classical, dub, musique concrete and minimalism. The goal is to find a healthy balance between digital and acoustic means of production.
Microcosm produces variations on the theme of minimal techno. The aim is to find new ways of working within the constraints of that definition, and focusing on the form of the music as much as the function of the genre. Dance music that is not too concerned with being dance music.