Landman initially worked as an award-winning comic book artist and then played bass and guitar for indie rockers Zoppo. However, after five years of creating various electric string instrument prototypes of his own design, in 2006 Landman delivered his first instrument to a prominent client, Aaron Hemphill, guitarist of Liars, just before the band’s self-titled album. The Moodswinger, a twelve-string electric zither, is featured on that album’s “Leather Prowler”. The instrument’s pickups are located in the neck rather than the body, and a free-moving rod is inserted to act as a third bridge, creating eerie overtones and multiple mathematically complex scale options.

His next client would seem almost too obvious: Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo. The Moonlander reportedly sounds, as Landman puts it, “almost like if you are playing in a cathedral.” The guitar features a second set of droning, sympathetic strings that vibrate in resonance with the main strings in two octaves of circles of fourths. Over the past three years, Landman has also produced unique instruments for the likes of Liam Finn, HEALTH, and Lightning Bolt.

One of the stranger instruments Landman has made (which is saying something) is The Bachelor, a design made for Half Japanese’s Jad Fair. As Fair isn’t all that interested in chords, Landman instead created a single-string instrument, in which the string is connected to a bicycle brake mechanism that can be used like an extreme tremolo bar while the string is strummed. The “guitar” also features a sort of amplified thumb piano, a technique that Landman has gone on to use on other instruments.

The Burner Harp Guitar was initially designed for Finn Andrews of The Veils, and is almost a crossover between the Moonlander and the Moodswinger. It features sympathetic droning strings, but also has a capo built onto those drone strings that can be used as a third bridge, making the secondary strings playable as a separate instrument. A bass version including thumb pianos was also created for bassist Pat Noecker of These Are Powers.

Landman has also designed a few drum guitars, played much in the same way a hammered dulcimer would be. Versions of the Desu Drum Guitar have been given to noisier bands like Lightning Bolt, HEALTH, and PRE, as well as indie folk darlings The Dodos. The instruments’ six strings comprise a single tone over three octaves. Sliding a drumstick over the strings produces overtones, while the instrument’s percussive tones are captured by pickups at either side of the strings.

While Landman is constantly creating new instrument prototypes, past workshops have included The Homeswinger (a no frills version of the Moodswinger), a Quick Steps electric kalimba, and a Caterpillar drum guitar which features two movable bridges. For now, it seems that these workshops are the only way to get your hands on one of these amazing, eccentric, gorgeous instruments, so keep your eyes peeled, and Landman might just find his way into your hometown.

Audio Archaeology is a presentation of Media Potluck and Consequence of Sound.

Among the acts lending their talents include Mogwai, Ra Ra Riot, Dan Deacon, Voxtrot, Marissa Nadler, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Antlers, Apostle Of Hustle, Patrick Wolf, The Veils, An Horse, The Spinto Band, Sic Alps, Crocodiles, Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, and Port O’Brien. You can find the complete list of participating artists, sorted by country, below.

In hopes of getting you further jazzed, Buffetlibre has provided us with a few mp3s from the project to post below. Scroll down to check out new selections from Voxtrot and Crocodiles.

Check Out:
Voxtrot – “Whiskey and Water”
Crocodiles – “Nothing To Be Done” (The Pastels Cover)

PEACE Lineup:
NORTH AMERICA:
USA: Micah P. Hinson And The Pioneer Saboteurs, Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3, Ra Ra Riot, Plushgun, Crocodiles, Dan Deacon, Voxtrot, Marissa Nadler, A Place To Bury Strangers, The Antlers, Asobi Seksu, The Spinto Band feat. The Beast Pageant , Port O’Brien, Bart Davenport, Dent May & Cowboy Maloney’s Electric City , KI: Theory, Mike Viola, Her Space Holiday, Pretty & Nice, Sic Alps, Blacklist, DeLeon, Gala, Jeffrey Lewis, Gregor Samsa, Thao + The Get Down Stay Down, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Still Flyin’, Softlightes, Princeton, Odyzë, This Will Destroy You, Cruel Black Dove, Avian X
CANADA: Apostle Of Hustle, Buck 65, Malajube
MEXICO: Mexican Institute Of Sound, Hello Seahorse!, Sussie 4
CUBA: Martha Galarraga

SOUTH AMERICA:
BRAZIL: Bonde Do Role & DJ Chernobyl
CHILE: Javiera Mena, Francisca Valenzuela, Dj Raff
COLOMBIA: Frankie Jazz
BOLIVIA: Surfin Wagner
ARGENTINA: Entre Rios, Manosanta
VENEZUELA: Fordelucs, Kid606 feat. Barbara Panther

EUROPE:
UK: Marc Almond, 4hero, Mogwai, Patrick Wolf, Dubstar, Rose Elinor Dougall
Si Begg, frYars, Gyratory System, Darren Hayman, Cicada, Lucky Soul, Official Secrets Act, The Ultrasonics, Trouble Over Tokyo, The Boy Least Likely To, You Love Her Coz She’s Dead, Catherine A.D.
BELGIUM: Vive La Fête, The Neon Judgement, Girls In Hawaii
AUSTRIA: Fennesz, a life a song a cigarette
GREECE: Marsheaux, Mikro
NORWAY: Rockettothesky, Ane Brun, Ingrid Olava
GERMANY: Stereo Total, Ascii.Disko, Console, Escape With Romeo, Jeans Team, Kissogram, Maral Salmassi & Zero Cash, Kitbuilders, Locas In Love
FRANCE: Tahiti 80, Black Strobe, The Toxic Avenger, Titi Robin with Karim Sami “Diabolo”, The Delano Orchestra, Amélie-les-crayons, Saï Saï, My Broken Frame, Debmaster
FINLAND: Jori Hulkkonen
GREENLAND: Angu
DENMARK: Cartridge, The Broken Beats
ITALY: Dusty Kid, Amari, Amycanbe, Le Man Avec Les Lunettes, Perturbazione
IRELAND: Hystereo, Mundy
ICELAND: Amiina & Kippi Kaninus
HUNGARY: We Plants Are Happy Plants
SWEDEN: I’m From Barcelona, Peter Von Poehl, Napoleon, Lacrosse
FINLAND / GERMANY: AGF/Delay
SERBIA: sevdahBABY
PORTUGAL: X-Wife
NEDERLANDS: Don Diablo, Marike Jager, a balladeer
SWITZERLAND: Heidi Happy feat. Paul Niehaus (Calexico), Low Motion Disco
SPAIN: Miqui Puig, We Are Standard, Olimpic, Boat Beam, The Requesters, After After Hours, The Pinker Tones, Triangulo De Amor Bizarro, Elastic Band, Undo, The Amplid, Niki, Chinese Christmas Cards
RUSSIA: Tesla Boy, Cut2Kill
TURKEY: Gooseflesh

ASIA:
JAPAN: Ryuichi Sakamoto featuring Christian Fennesz
TIBET: Loten Namling, Karjam Saeji, Techung
CHINA: The Pet Conspiracy
HONG KONG: The Marshmallow Kisses, Tramgirl Karaoke Club feat. maskopet
REPUBLIC OF KOREA: EE
ISRAEL: Ivri Lider, Tamar Eisenman, Karni Postel, Nico Teen, The Biting Sheep
ISRAEL / FRANCE: Keren Ann & Shlomi Shaban
INDONESIA: Mocca, Efek Rumah Kaca, White Shoes & The Couples Company
INDIA: Motherjane, menwhopause, Sha’ir + func
IRAQ / DENMARK: Aida Nadeem
IRAQ: Salaam
IRAQ / FRANCE: Aïwa
PALESTINE: CultureSHOC
THAILAND: Cyndi Seui
SINGAPUR: sonicbrat

AFRICA:
SENEGAL: Malick Pathé Sow
TUNISIA / ALGERIA: DuOud
ALGERIA: MHD, Maghrebika feat Bill Laswell, Baâziz
GHANA: Wanlov The Kubolor
MALI: Vieux Farka Touré
UGANDA: Seby Ntege
EGYPT: Bikya
SOUTH AFRICA: Mujava feat Nonsense
MOZAMBIQUE / SOUTH AFRICA: 340ml
CONGO: Kiala

OCEANIA:
NEW ZEALAND: The Veils, The Phoenix Foundation
AUSTRALIA: Jeremy Fowler, An Horse, Operator Please, Birds Of Tokyo, Aeons

The Veils 2009 Tour Dates:
06/08 – Berlin, DE @ Magnet
07/09 – Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
07/10 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey *^
07/11 – Porland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *^
07/13 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *^
07/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland
07/17 – Tucson, AZ @ Plush *^
07/19 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk *^
07/20 – Norman, OK @ Opolis
07/22 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry *^
07/23 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *&
07/24 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Balroom *&
07/25 – Pontiac, MI @ Pike Room *
07/27 – Toronto, ON @ The Legendary Horseshoe *
07/28 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rosa *
07/29 – Cambridge, MA @ T.T. The Bear’s *&
07/30 – Manhattan, NY @ Mercury Lounge *&
07/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *&
08/01 – Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel *&
08/03 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House *&
08/08 – Brussels, BE @ Dranouter Festival

* = w/ Foreign Born
^ = w/ The Other Girls
& = w/ Faces On Film