eff McIlwain has been producing his visceral, melodic strain of abstract electronic music as Lusine for 10 years now. Originally a Texas native, Jeff attended CalArts in 1998, studying 20th-century electronic music and sound design for music and film. Soon after, he met Shad Scott and put out his self-titled debut as Lusine for Isophlux. Since then, McIlwain relocated to Seattle and began steadily releasing his music on Ghostly International (home to 2004’s landmark Serial Hodgepodge as well as its successful followup remix album Podgelism), Hymen, and U-Cover. McIlwain has also contributed tracks to various compilations and remix releases on Mute, !K7, Kompakt, Asthmatic Kitty, and Shitkatapult. His Language Barrier full-length on Hymen Records
was something of a departure, as McIlwain focused less on jagged rhythmic detail and more on the layers of ambience that lay beneath the percussion of his previous releases.
McIlwain has performed throughout the US and abroad, including a set at London’s esteemed Fabric nightclub, and an ambient multimedia performance at Seattle’s Triple Door in which he collaborated with video artist Scott Sunn. McIlwain has recently been involved in two film projects, co-scoring David Gordon Green’s 2008 film Snow Angels (with Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell), and scoring Kevin Bray’s 2009 film Linewatch (with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Omari Hardwick). McIlwain’s much-anticipated latest album, A Certain Distance, will be released on Ghostly International in 2009.