Emperor X

The brainchild of cosmic lo-fi Los Angeles-based indie folk artist/high-school science teacher Chad Matheny, Emperor X began its aural assault in the late '90s. Matheny's quirky mix of surreal, offbeat lyrics and haphazard arrangements blended with an innate pop sensibility first appeared in solid form in 1998 with the release of the Joytakers' Rakes/Stars on the Ceiling, Pleasantly Kneeling. Tectonic Membrane/Thin Strip on an Edgeless Platform arrived in 2004, followed by Central Hug/Friendarmy/Fractal Dunes (2005), The Blythe Archives, Vols. 1-2 (2009), and his Bar/None debut, Western Teleport (2011). Mathany is known for recording one-off songs, burying them in unlikely places, and then posting the GPS coordinates on his website.