Stuff You Might've Missed – Lightning Bolt

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Lightning Bolt are Providence, Rhode Island based duo of Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson, well-known for their electryfing shows and music, which according to All Music Guide, sounds like a combination of Fred Frith, Derek Bailey, Ruins, Slayer and Ornette Coleman, all thrown into a blender.
Band members met when they attended Rhode Island School Of Design in 1994 and initially included Hisham Bharoocha, who eventually left in 1996 and joined Black Dice. Their only track recorded with Bharoocha was “Revenge”, a track from 1996 Load Records compilation “Repopulation Program”.
For a number of years they were touring as an improvisational group, but after being approached by Load Records founder Ben McOsker, they started recording an album.

All in all, they produced a number of albums (1997 self-titled album, 2001 “Ride The Skies”, 2003 “Wonderful Rainbow” and 2005 “Hypermagic Mountain” ), a number of splits/singles and compilation tracks. They also produced a DVD called “The Power Of Salad”, which includes interviews with band members and live footage.
All Music Guide commented on their self-titled in the following way – “Lightning Bolt’s first album shows that the duo’s frenetic broken-machine-played-by-live-instruments approach was not merely in place from the start but firing on all fours. It’s not easy to describe the tracks — it’s one thing to say it’s just bass; drums; and gargled, barely audible but still shouted vocals; quite another to describe the effect of the performances.”
According to AMG, 2003 “Wonderful Rainbow” sounded like “all the best aspects of Fred Frith, Derek Bailey, the Ruins, Slayer, and Ornette Coleman all thrown into a blender together.”, while its follow-up – “Hypermagic Mountain” – sounded like “opposite of Excedrin, a tension headache in ten movements.”
Update: In 2009, the band released their fifth studio album entitled “Earthly Delights”.
Band Members:
Brian Chippendale (Mindflayer, Black Pus)
Brian Gibson
Hisham Bharoocha (Black Dice, Pixeltan)
Discography:
Lightning Bolt / Forcefield Split 7″ (Load, 1997)
Lightning Bolt LP / CD (Load, 1999)
Tour 7″ (Load, 2000)
Ride The Skies LP / CD (Load, 2001)
Power Of Salad & Milkshakes DVD (Load, 2003)
Wonderful Rainbow LP / CD (Load, 2003)
Hypermagic Mountain 2xLP / CD (Load, 2005)
Compilation Tracks:
“Revenge” on Repopulation Program Providence RI (Load, 1996)
“LB.3.K6K3GU3.GO” on Fruited Other Surfaces (Vermiform, 1998)
“Waiting For The Snake Assassin” on Troubleman Mix-Tape (Troubleman Unlimited, 2001)
“Ride The Friendly Skies” on If The Twenty-First Century Didn’t Exist It Would Be Necessary To Invent It (5 Rue Christine, 2002)
“Swarm” on Old Tyme Lemonade (Hospital Productions, 2004)
“Exitebike” on A Benefit For Our Friends (Aquarius, 2005)
“Planet Of The Wolves” onI Love Guitar Wolf…Very Much (Narnack, 2005)
“Riff Wraiths” on Rough Trade Shops – Counter Culture 05 (V2, 2006)
“2 Morro Morro Land” on Ex Drummer Soundtrack (PIAS, 2007)