Charlie Looker Explained

Charlie Looker
Landscape:	yes
Birth Name:	Charles A. Looker^[1]
Birth Date:	23 May 1980
Birth Place:	New York City
Associated Acts:	Extra Life, Zs, Dirty Projectors

Charles A. Looker (born May 23, 1980) is an American composer, improviser, vocalist, and guitarist known for his work in experimental metal,^[2] contemporary classical,^[3] avant-jazz, and Renaissance and Medieval musical forms.^[4]

Education and career

Looker is a graduate of Wesleyan University, where he studied with Anthony Braxton and Alvin Lucier.^[5]

Alongside his work as a solo artist, Looker also leads an Early/Renaissance-music inspired project, Seaven Teares;^[6] performs improvised "death-jazz" with Period, whose rotating cast includes Darius Jones, Chuck Bettis, and Mike Pride;^[7] played in Sculptress, a duo with Chuck Stern;^[8] and leads the industrial-metal duo Psalm Zero, formerly alongside Castevet's Andrew Hock.^[9] He is the songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist for avant-rock band Extra Life^[10] and a former member and co-founder of avant-garde band Zs.^[11] He worked with Dirty Projectors and appears on their record Rise Above.^[12] Other collaborators include M Lamar,^[13] Mariel Roberts, Ty Braxton,^[14] Mary Halvorson, Mick Barr, Tim Berne, Nat Baldwin,^[15] Earle Brown, Sam Mickens, Kelly Moran, Dax Riggs, Lingua Ignota,^[16] Matthew Welch,^[17] Stu Watson, William Parker,^[18] and Glenn Branca.

He founded Last Things Records, a label that has released recordings by Extra Life, Larkin Grimm, The Parenthetical Girls, Psalm Zero, and Sculptress.

In 2011, Looker was named one of NPR Music's "Top 100 Composers Under 40".^[19]

Discography

As leader

Year	Artist	Title	Label
2002	Lavender	Get Your Eye^[20]	Newsonic
2006	Extra Life	Three-Song EP	FuckingA
2008	Extra Life	A Split (EP)	Shatter Your Leaves
2008	Extra Life	Secular Works^[21]	Planaria / I & Ear / LOAF
2010	Extra Life	Made Flesh^[22]	LOAF / Africantape
2011	Extra Life	Ripped Heart (EP)^[23]	Last Things
2012	Extra Life	Dream Seeds^[24]	Northern Spy
2013	Seaven Teares	Power Ballads^[25]	Northern Spy
2014	Psalm Zero	The Drain^[26]	Profound Lore
2016	Psalm Zero	Stranger to Violence^[27]	Profound Lore
2018	Charlie Looker	Simple Answers	Last Things
2020	Psalm Zero	Sparta	Last Things
2020	Charlie Looker	Pleasures Of A Normal Man	Last Things
2020	Seaven Teares	Older Than Love
2022	Extra Life	Secular Works, Vol. 2^[28]	Last Things
2024	Extra Life	The Sacred Vowel^[29]	Last Things

As co-leader

Year	Artist	Title	Label
2000	Daniel Carter / Charlie Looker / Greg Stare	Light	Aristocracy Communication
2003	Zs	Zs	Troubleman Unlimited
2005	Zs	Buck^[30]	Folding Cassettes
2005	Zs	Karate Bump (EP)	Planaria
2006	PERIOD	PERIOD	FuckingA
2006	Seductive Sprigs	Seductive Sprigs^[31]	FuckingA
2007	Zs	Arms^[32]	Planaria
2008	Zs	The Hard (EP)	Three One G
2011	Sculptress	Cuckold	Last Things
2012	Zs	The Complete Sextet Works 2002-2007	Northern Spy
2014	PERIOD	PERIOD 2^[33]	Public Eyesore
2021	Jeremiah Cymerman / Charlie Looker	A Horizon Made of Canvas^[34]	Astral Spirits

As sideperson

Year	Artist	Title	Label
2002	Alvin Lucier	Vespers and Other Early Works	New World Records
2002	Matthew Welch	Ceol Nua	Leo Records
2005	Mike Pride	Scrambler^[35]	Not Two Records
2006	Earle Brown	Folio and Four Systems	Tzadik
2007	Dirty Projectors	Rise Above	Dead Oceans
2016	Tredici Bacci	Amore Per Tutti^[36]	NNA
2017	M Lamar	Surveillance Punishment and the Black Psyche^[37]	Negrogothic
2021	Xiu Xiu	OH NO	Polyvinyl
2023	Xiu Xiu	Ignore Grief	Polyvinyl

External links

• Charlie Looker Bandcamp
• AllMusic.com credits

Notes and References

1. Web site: BIO / DISCOGRAPHY . September 27, 2023 . Charlie Looker.
2. Web site: O'Connor . Andy . Charlie Looker: Simple Answers . Pitchfork . 9 February 2021 . 26 June 2018.
3. Web site: Walls . Seth Colter . Oh! Oh! Ojai: The Week in Classical Music . The New York Times . 9 February 2021 . 15 June 2018.
4. Web site: Sharp . Elliott . Exit Interview: Charlie Looker on the Life and Death of Extra Life . The Village Voice . 9 February 2021 . 18 January 2013.
5. Web site: Margasak . Peter . Tirra Lirra, Extra Life, Cool Memories . The Chicago Reader . 23 September 2009 . 10 February 2021.
6. Web site: Roesgen . Jeff . Seaven Teares Power Ballads . Tiny Mix Tapes . 10 February 2021.
7. Web site: Cohan . Brad . Zevious . The Village Voice . 10 February 2021 . 20 August 2014.
8. Web site: Weingarten . Christopher . Download: Tracks By Charlie Looker's Extra Life And Sculptress . The Village Voice . 19 December 2023 . 21 June 2011.
9. Web site: O'Connor . Andy . Review: Psalm Zero Put the Power in Corruption and Lies on 'Stranger to Violence' . SPIN . 9 February 2021 . 22 July 2016.
10. Web site: Cohan . Brad . Q&A: Extra Life's Charlie Looker On Dream Seeds, Being A Music Schoolteacher And Thinking Antony Is Awesome . The Village Voice . 9 February 2021 . 4 May 2012.
11. Web site: Powell . Mike . Zs: Music of the Modern White . Pitchfork . 10 February 2021 . 29 June 2009.
12. Web site: Carlson . Jen . Charlie Looker, Extra Life . Gothamist . 10 February 2021 . 22 October 2008 .
13. Web site: Listen: M. Lamar, Charlie Looker & Mivos Quartet . New Sounds . New York Public Radio . 10 February 2021 . 28 April 2016.
14. Web site: Charlie Looker (Seaven Teares, Psalm Zero, ZS) begins residency at NY's The Stone this month, premieres Twin Peaks cover song . Tiny Mix Tapes . 10 February 2021 . 6 January 2015.
15. Web site: Extra Life: "I'm really into a certain amount of artifice in music." . Tiny Mix Tapes . 10 February 2021 . 5 May 2009.
16. Web site: Collo-Julin . Salem . Sparta marks a new beginning for NYC's Psalm Zero . The Chicago Reader . 10 February 2021 . 21 February 2020.
17. Web site: Matthew Welch: Ceol Nua . AllMusic.com . 10 February 2021.
18. Web site: Puccio . Michael . Mike Pride: Scrambler / Bartlomiej Brat Oles: Free Drum Suite . All About Jazz . 10 February 2021 . 22 January 2006.
19. Web site: The Mix: 100 Composers Under 40 . NPR . 10 February 2021 . 17 April 2011.
20. Web site: Kendrick . Monica . Spot Check . The Chicago Reader . 10 May 2021 . 8 August 2002.
21. Web site: Roesgen . Jeff . Extra Life: Secular Works . Tiny Mix Tapes . 10 May 2021.
22. Web site: Galil . Leor . Reviewed: Extra Life's Made Flesh . Washington City Paper . 10 May 2021 . 25 March 2010.
23. Web site: Louche . Liz . Former Zs member releases Ripped Heart EP with his new(ish) band Extra Life . Tiny Mix Tapes . 10 May 2021 . 22 February 2011.
24. Web site: Cohan . Brad . Q&A: Extra Life's Charlie Looker On Dream Seeds, Being A Music Schoolteacher And Thinking Antony Is Awesome . The Village Voice . 10 May 2021 . 4 May 2012.
25. Web site: Roesgen . Jeff . Seaven Teares Power Ballads . Tiny Mix Tapes . 10 May 2021.
26. Web site: Currin . Grayson Haver . Psalm Zero: The Drain . Pitchfork . 10 May 2021 . 18 March 2014.
27. Web site: Reyes-Kulkarni . Saby . Psalm Zero: Stranger to Violence . Pitchfork . 10 May 2021 . 30 July 2016.
28. Web site: Hudson . Nick . Extra Life – Secular Works, Vol. 2 . Toilet ov Hell . 25 May 2023 . 5 September 2022.
29. Web site: Nine Songs I Liked This Week in List Form . Machine Music . 31 March 2024 . 30 March 2024.
30. Web site: Allen . Clifford . 2002-2007: Zs Score: The Complete Sextet Works 2002-2007 . Tiny Mix Tapes . 4 January 2013.
31. Web site: Seductive Sprigs . WNYC . 10 May 2021 . 11 June 2006.
32. Web site: Mackey . Robbie . Zs: Arms . Pitchfork . 10 May 2021 . 25 January 2008.
33. Web site: Eidenberger . Julian . Period – 2 (Public Eyesore, 2014) ***½ . The Free Jazz Collective . 10 May 2021 . 17 September 2014.
34. Web site: AMN Reviews: Jeremiah Cymerman / Charlie Looker – A Horizon Made Of Canvas (2021; Astral Spirits) . Avant Music News . 10 May 2021 . 12 December 2020.
35. Web site: Mike Pride: Scrambler . M.etropolis . 7 January 2011 . 10 May 2021.
36. Web site: Schneider . Meredith . Tredici Bacci Rolls Out Imaginary Cinematic Masterpiece in Amore Per Tutti . Impose Magazine . 1 November 2023.
37. Web site: Listen: M. Lamar, Charlie Looker & Mivos Quartet . WQXR . New Sounds Live . 7 March 2021 . 28 April 2016.