Lucibel Crater

How I described the band

The rock/electronic group Sarth always dreamed he could have but never realized he would is called Lucibel Crater.

Often described as “cubist,” this trio has been called “Bjork crossed with the White Stripes” and is fronted by singer/songwriter/cellist Leah Coloff, who has recorded for artists ranging from Dr. John to Ziggy Marley to Joel Thome to David Bowie, as well as receiving critical praise and radio play for her solo album “Dark Sweet Heart.”

What a show was

Lucibel Crater uses experimental methods to create music with familiar structure and grooves; A typical Lucibel Crater show might begin by meticulous live looping of syncopated drum parts, build into a crescendo of noise, then dissolve and coalesce into a catchy melody sung over a Brooklyn-style groove.

Lucibel Crater is a trio which is collapsing boundaries and discovering new polarities to exploit. Their live shows are a journey, you get on the road at the beginning and at the end you exit in a whole new place. And perhaps you never return ...

The Family Album

The band’s only full-length came out in 2008, ten songs, mixed by Bryce Goggin. It has its own page and is on Spotify.

The Björk and White Stripes comparison comes from Urban in Italy, February 2009, where Simone Tempia wrote: Ci si può sentire qualcosa di Björk e magari dei White Stripes. Ma la verità è che il loro sound è unico e difficilmente incasellabile.

Buzzbin Magazine reviewed the record in July 2008. Ross Christopher at awaken music gave it five stars in April 2009 and picked out “Where You Are,” “There was a Time” and “Threadbare Funeral.” Lost in Sound interviewed the band in February 2010. More of the press is on Rumors.

On stage

The dates that survive in the record start at the Knitting Factory in February 2007 and run through FatBaby, the Delancey, a Berlin night at RAW-Tempel in November 2008, and the Jazzwelten festival in Dresden in 2010. Lou Reed and Ulrich Krieger once joined the band at Joe’s Pub for “Masticate,” which I called a Metal Machine Trio sub-unit. The full list is on Sightings.

The creditSarth Calhoun founded Lucibel Crater in 2005 and plays keys, bass, loops, Kyma and Continuum Fingerboard in it, with Leah Coloff, cello and voice, and Paul Chuffo, drums. On Miracles, 2007, and The Family Album, 2008.