American Rituals

American Rituals collects the recordings of Cheri Knight made during the fertile, DIY movement that flowered around Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in the early eighties. With access to the college’s multitrack recording studios, a lending library of instruments, and an unbridled spirit of experimentation, Cheri and her collaborators created ecstatic amalgamations of minimalism, art rock, and vocal technique that illuminate a rich Pacific Northwest counterpoint to the parallel New Music scenes of downtown New York and San Francisco. Restored and remastered from original tape sources by Josh Bonati, the vinyl edition includes comprehensive liner notes by Steve Peters.

A new anthology uncovers a forgotten history from early 1980s Olympia: a set of playful, experimental, wholly original recordings based on skeletal multi-tracking and looped vocals.