Review: Brett Naucke at Lamplight
The days of Moogfest are long gone, and the company bearing its name no longer carries the presence it once did. Still, a contingent of experimental electronic musicians in Asheville continues to hold the line against the city being completely overtaken by banjos and bluegrass. One of the most vital among them is Brett Naucke.
A Chicago native who has called Asheville home for several years, the experimental electronic composer released his latest album, Ground Fault Matinee, in mid-November. Despite the late-2025 release date, Naucke didn’t have the opportunity to perform the material for a local audience until Jan. 17, when he finally celebrated the album at Lamplight.
The evening started with an improvised opening set by Ashley Paul (saxophone) and Shane Justice McCord (bass clarinet). The duo’s playful experimentalism set the tone as the small gallery space attached to Drop of Sun Studios (where Ground Fault Matinee was mastered) filled with listeners eager to witness Naucke’s analog synth wizardry. It was a room full of local musicians, showing their support.
As Naucke sculpted otherworldly, retro-futurist soundscapes the mostly-seated audience watched intently. Perfectly loud and all-consuming, the sound waves were powerful enough to vibrate a glass off a nearby table, shattering it on the floor midway through the set. Though startling, the moment did little to break the spell Naucke had cast; the audience remained in a collective hypnosis as he rocked in his chair, hunched over the cables and knobs of his modular synth.
Naucke has stated that this would be both the first and last time he performs these songs for a local audience, lending the night an added sense of rarity. Sharing in that experience with such an intimate crowd felt genuinely special. Hopefully, Asheville’s connection to forward-thinking electronic music can once again make a deeper impact on local audiences in the near future — there’s clearly plenty worth hearing here.
(Photos by Jonny Leather)
Brett Naucke
Shane Justice McCord & Ashley Paul
