Pioneer 11

Named after NASA’s 1973 robotic space probe of the same name, the duo of Pioneer 11 creates transmissions from cosmic coordinates where the spacecraft is adrift, the oxygen levels are low, but the view is spectacular. Psychedelia preserved in hazy disorienting guitar riffs.

Think something recalling Caribou's psychedelic faded beat symphonies. Flying Lotus' surreal celestial explorations. Nicolas Jaar's sinister grooves and tenebrous aesthetic. Four Tet's layering of samples to yield extraterrestrial but intimate songs. Or late period Radiohead when they shed expectations and wandered into the unfamiliar fringes of sound.

Released on POW Recordings, their debut album Gravitorium examines themes ranging from empathy and technology, to the future of space exploration and the nature of evil in our society. 11 lunar soundscapes woven together by the vocals and guitars of Bryan Gomez and Alex Hastings, comprising an emotional narrative that weightlessly floats its way from baleful ennui to Big Pun covers.

Over a period of four years, Hastings and Gomez created, performed, recorded and mixed every note to create a work that reveals deep psychic exploration and monomaniacal passion. During that span, Noisey hailed Pioneer 11 as the “best amalgamation of Darkside and Dilla you're apt to hear.” Paste raved that they were “marvelously soulful.” Buzz Bands described their songs as “interstellar bliss” and asked the question that demands answering: Where was this music when Matt Damon needed it in “The Martian?”