Horse Lords

Horse Lords are an experimental rock quartet from Baltimore who play in just intonation, modifying their instruments and playing unconventional tunings in order to create a unique sound. Additionally, the group utilize modular synthesis, algorithmic composition, microtonal harmonies, and other techniques. The band’s lengthy, hypnotic, polyrhythmic pieces draw from Krautrock, Afrobeat, and Appalachian folk traditions, and are surprisingly accessible for such experimental music. After forming in 2010, Horse Lords became a fixture of the American D.I.Y. music scene, touring continuously and releasing acclaimed recordings such as 2016′s Interventions and 2020′s The Common Task. 2022′s Comradely Objects features some of the band’s most danceable material.
Horse Lords consist of Andrew Bernstein (saxophone, percussion), Max Eilbacher (bass, modular synthesizers), Owen Gardner (guitar), and Sam Haberman (drums); most of the group’s members had previously played together in Teeth Mountain. Inspired by composers La Monte Young and James Tenney, the band formed in 2010 and began writing music for just intonation, using self-modified guitars with repositioned frets. They issued Mixtape, Vol. 1 in 2012, followed by their self-titled proper debut full-length on Ehse Records. Two more mixtapes followed, as the band toured the United States and Canada with the likes of Matmos, Guerilla Toss, and Guardian Alien. Following a 2013 split 7″ with Lower Dens on the Famous Class label, Horse Lords’ sophomore LP, Hidden Cities, was put out by Burlington, Vermont-based NNA Tapes in 2014. The group issued the digital collection Hidden Cities Remix in 2015, featuring reinterpretations by Jason Urick, Wobbly, and solo mixes by both members of Matmos. The quartet’s third album, Interventions, was released by Brooklyn’s Northern Spy label in 2016. Mixtape IV appeared in 2017, containing the Julius Eastman composition “Stay on It” as well as the band’s own “Remember the Future.” The Common Task, Horse Lords’ most politically minded released, arrived in 2020. Comradely Objects, their first album for RVNG Intl., appeared in 2022. The record found the group exploring different studio-based compositional techniques following the absence of live performances for much of the previous two years. ~ Paul Simpson