Attorneys General

Matt here with an announcement: A live set I did in my Attorneys General guise is out now on my new Headache Journals label and available on both limited-edition vinyl and digital. Featuring David Grubbs, Ian Williams, and Ryley Walker as guest players, this was recorded live @the_p.i.t._ in Brooklyn in March of '23. The idea with Attorneys General is that guest players generate utterly improvised sound through my mixing board and effects, which allows me to capture, loop, manipulate, and destroy the sounds they create. This one was as special as you might expect from such smart and thoughtful collaborators. Order at link in bio. Recorded live to mono on Saturday, March 11, 2023 at The P.I.T., Brooklyn, NY. Mastered by @beautypill Art Direction by @badpeoplegoodthings

The second of three new Attorneys General releases is available now for pre-order on vinyl, digital, and CD: Attorneys General at Ftarri, Tokyo (w/Tetuzi Akiyama, Elico Suzuki) HJ005 A live set with featured players @tetuzi.akiyama and @suzueri_work at Ftarri in Tokyo on 06/28/26. Pre-order link in @attorneysgeneral bio. Attorneys General is an instant composing project led by Matthew Byars of Baltimore, MD. A formative experience for Byars as a listener was hearing the work of sound engineer Martin Swope of Mission of Burma on their seminal 1985 live record, The Horrible Truth About Burma, in which Swope, using a reel-to-reel tape machine, captured, looped, manipulated, and destroyed elements of the band’s sound in spontaneous and unexpected ways. Byars has adapted this approach to having multiple players (different each time, mostly) generate utterly improvised sound through a mixing board he controls, which allows him to capture, loop, manipulate, and destroy the sounds they create. A partial list of previous collaborators includes David Grubbs, Luke Stewart, Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux), Ian Williams (BATTLES), Ryley Walker, Shane Parish, Zoh Amba, Susan Alcorn, and Alan Licht.

Some @bandcamp coverage of one of the three new AG releases. Pre-order link in bio.

The second of three new Attorneys General releases is available now for pre-order on vinyl, digital, and CD: Attorneys General at Ftarri, Tokyo (w/Tetuzi Akiyama, Elico Suzuki) HJ005 A live set with featured players @tetuzi.akiyama and @suzueri_work at Ftarri in Tokyo on 06/28/26. Pre-order link in bio. Attorneys General is an instant composing project led by Matthew Byars of Baltimore, MD. A formative experience for Byars as a listener was hearing the work of sound engineer Martin Swope of Mission of Burma on their seminal 1985 live record, The Horrible Truth About Burma, in which Swope, using a reel-to-reel tape machine, captured, looped, manipulated, and destroyed elements of the band’s sound in spontaneous and unexpected ways. Byars has adapted this approach to having multiple players (different each time, mostly) generate utterly improvised sound through a mixing board he controls, which allows him to capture, loop, manipulate, and destroy the sounds they create. A partial list of previous collaborators includes David Grubbs, Luke Stewart, Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux), Ian Williams (BATTLES), Ryley Walker, Shane Parish, Zoh Amba, Susan Alcorn, and Alan Licht.

The first of three new Attorneys General releases is available now for pre-order on vinyl, digital, and CD: Attorneys General at Horse Hospital, London (w/Tara Cunningham, Mike O’Malley, Alex McKenzie) HJ007 A live set with featured players Mike O’Malley and Alex McKenzie of @carolinetheband and @t.ara.cunningham at @thehorsehospital in London on 11/13/25. Link in bio. Attorneys General is an instant composing project led by Matthew Byars of Baltimore, MD. A formative experience for Byars as a listener was hearing the work of sound engineer Martin Swope of Mission of Burma on their seminal 1985 live record, The Horrible Truth About Burma, in which Swope, using a reel-to-reel tape machine, captured, looped, manipulated, and destroyed elements of the band’s sound in spontaneous and unexpected ways. Byars has adapted this approach to having multiple players (different each time, mostly) generate utterly improvised sound through a mixing board he controls, which allows him to capture, loop, manipulate, and destroy the sounds they create. A partial list of previous collaborators includes David Grubbs, Luke Stewart, Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux), Ian Williams (BATTLES), Ryley Walker, Shane Parish, Zoh Amba, Susan Alcorn, and Alan Licht.

Matt (@attorneysgeneral ) talking to @tomskinnermusic this past weekend @bigearsfestival . Episode coming soon.

Number 31 in a series that @deeleegee and I curate. Ticket link in the @essentialtremors bio.

Stereolab’s 1997 LP Dots and Loops will be the star of our next @essentialtremors Selector Series on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at @theidlehourbaltimore . A mature masterpiece from the band, it should really show out on Brendan’s sweet sound system. Doors at 7 pm, tickets at the link in the @essentialtremors bio, see you there.

New vinyl coming in the short near-term from some sets in the UK and Japan via @headachejournals . Not every improvised set is worthy of commemoration, but these are. If you truly listen to them as moments of real time decision-making and communication, especially. More info soon. In case you didn’t know, what I do here I also do in @thecaribbeanisaband more or less. We have new work coming soon that we’re really excited about. Matt

NEXT WEDNESDAY: a very special Selector Series with Matt and Lee playing host and spinning Talk Talk’s sublime swan song Laughing Stock on Brendan’s sweet system at @theidlehourbaltimore . If you know the record, you know how special this will be. If you don’t know it, there are few better ways to get acquainted with this tremulous masterpiece than in a simpatico setting with likeminded souls. Best of all, perhaps, the evening is a benefit for the Popular Front Project, a nonprofit organization that works with state and local governments to fund healthcare and social services for trans people often denied it otherwise. Every dollar of your modest admission price other than a slim slice for ticket processing goes to PFP. Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7 pm. Tickets at the link in the bio. See you there.