Martin Bisi had an important role in nurturing the fruitful, pioneering New York City music scene of the late ’70s and early ’80s, which was blossoming in various then-novel genres like New Wave, Punk, No Wave and Hip Hop. He worked, not as a musician but as a producer (with Brian Eno as a mentor), helming recordings by Lydia Lunch, Live Skull, Swans, Material, Afrika Bambaataa, Sonic Youth and Fab Five Freddy.
His production resumé expanded over time and has since included work with experimental groundbreakers and numerous others. As an artist, Bisi works without boundaries, creating avant-garde Rock layered with unusual textures and creepy atomospherics. Bisi’s forthcoming Ex Nihilo (due from Burger Records later this year) is like a sonic version of a Jackson Pollock painting, with layers of voices, strange, dark ambiance, fiery percussion and straight-up noise splattered elegantly onto his aural canvas.
Bisi performs Thursday at The Rake’s End with locals Swear Jar and Strange Faces. 10 p.m. Free. 2141 Central Ave., Brighton, facebook.com/rakesend.