Bil Vermette - Hunting For Planet 9 (2021)

Chicago musician Bil Vermette has been exploring sonic textures since the late-Seventies, first in the group VCSR (a Berlin-school influenced synthesist ensemble that were courted by Wax Trax for a brief time) and then as a solo artist. His lone vinyl solo release "Katha Visions" was self-released on his own Rainforest Productions in 1984 (reissued by Permanent Records in 2013), followed by various cassette releases including "Environ-Mentals" and "Observances". "Hunting for Planet 9" is his first release of new material since 2012.

The pieces on "Hunting For Planet 9" were, like previous efforts "...improvised while working on patches, synth configurations, and effects", showcasing an artist exploring his sonic palette in real time. Like many of Vermette's releases, his inspiration comes from the forces of the natural world, or - in "Planet 9"s case the celestial world. Vermette's lifelong love of astronomy directly informed "Hunting for Planet 9"s subject matter, garnering inspiration from the latest explorations of our solar system. Indeed, many of the pieces on "Planet 9" feel otherworldly; a soundtrack to space travel, themes for touring the moons of Uranus or Saturn's rings on through the furthest reaches of our solar system & beyond.