The Contrarian is the alter ego of Washington, DC-based musician/producer/writer Casey Rae-Hunter.

www.thecontrarianmedia.com

Having assumed many guises over the years, Rae-Hunter has now settled on a creative process he calls "Illuminated Musicks," the details of which he is not at liberty to divulge.

The debut release from The Contrarian was 2001's "Cult of the Dead Rockstar" — a somewhat frightening journey into the darkest corners of Rae-Hunter's mind. It is now an out-of-print collector's item.

Its 2003 followup, "The Contrarian," featured a range of styles, including microhouse, trip-hop, ambient and glitch tied together with a dream-pop bow.

"Soft Rock," from 2005, was born of varying amounts of emotional trauma and transcendental euphoria. It is the culmination of a lifetime’s affection for both toothsome pop and occult noise.

2007's "Northern Lights" is a multi-layered album of elemental tension that recalls the best of vintage psych and pagan prog. Rae-Hunter set out to capture the magic of rock’s most sonically creative period (that’d be the 1970s), without indulging in empty stylistic exercises. "Northern Lights'" nine songs are lush, enterprising and profoundly sensual. Among other things, the album served to remind listeners of Rae-Hunter's considerable six-string prowess.

In 2009, The Contrarian released "Eldritch Musicks," a song-cycle inspired by early 20th-century weird fiction. The record finds Rae-Hunter continuing to explore the rock idiom to captivating (and occasionally unsettling) effect.

http://www.thecontrarianmedia.com/the-contrarian-eldritch-musicks/

The Contrarian refrains from live performance, preferring the hermetic confines of his Sounds of the Baskervilles studio to the many stages he's graced. He cannot be persuaded, so don't try.

The Contrarian's previous EP, Soft Rock, can be purchased at all major online retailers. A very scant amount of 3" CDs are still available from Icebox Records.
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