Bookmobile is the current electronic project of Victor Couto and Ben Torrence, and the latest chapter of their ongoing musical collaborations that began in early 2001. They originally began playing music together in the improvisational post-whatever(pre-jazz?) band Recidivist, an experimental rock-based (guitars/drums) trio that later took on the the moniker Lamplighter for their excursions into computer-based composition and sound design experiments. Lamplighter was one of the first groups to start dragging computers to the stages of rock clubs in Seattle. Before having laptops up to the task, they would lug whole desktop systems and bulbous old iMacs out to drop beats on bewidlered showgoers. Coming from indie and punk rock backgrounds, yet having an appreciation of dance and experimental forms of music, Lamplighter, and now likewise Bookmobile, have attempted to bridge gaps between different musical styles and approaches as well as audiences. Bookmobile's debut album 'Keys' was releasd in August 2004, and the duo are currently taking a break from live performances to concentrate on their next two releases- a split CD with Zapan and a 2nd album, both due out in 2006. Ben recently released a solo album of computer music under the name Splinters (WLR020) and is also playing in Lunch Buddy Program at present.
