Forms of Things Unknown is an acoustic/electronic project dedicated to pan-idiomatic explorations beyond the pale of sectarian orthodoxies, being the brainchild and primary creative enterprise of San Francisco composer/multi-instrumentalist Ferrara Brain Pan. FOTU is essentially a solo endeavor, with occasional assistance from a fluctuating cast of like-minded artistic colleagues. Ferrara Brain Pan is a windplayer whose instrumental abilities range from Western orchestral woodwinds such as flutes, saxophones, bass clarinet and recorders to such ethnic instruments as the didjeridu, shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), and kangling (ritual Tibetan trumpet made from a human thighbone). Harmonium, bowed psaltery, percussion, and digital/analog electronic elements further enrich the instrumental palette of Forms Of Things Unknown. Ferrara Brain Pan’s checkered musical career includes early collaborations with noise music pioneer Boyd Rice a/k/a NON (1970s), the mercifully short-lived goth-damage fiasco Bad Alchemy (80s), ambient dub project 23 Degrees (early 90s), and a fortuitous uncredited appearance on 1994’s Rien by Krautrock legends Faust. In 1998, Ferrara Brain Pan co-founded the dark ambient duo Darmstadt Pharmacy with Ure Thrall, initiating a collaborative association which persists intermittently to the present day. Forms of Things Unknown was launched as a solo recording project in 2002 and made its recording debut the following year with the mini-CD Cross Purposes. This first release was mixed and produced from material played entirely by Ferrara Brain Pan, excepting guest vocal performances by local talents Bob Ayres and Shannon Wolfe. A study in contradictions, the album featured a 16-minute original instrumental doomscape entitled “Black Candles & Pentagrams ‘n Shit,” paired off against a 14th-Century devotional Christian song and a cover of the morally ambiguous “Stupid Blood” (penned by UK punk legend Howard Devoto). A couple of aesthetically divergent compilation appearances trickled out during the next year or two, as a variety of personal obstacles conspired to slow down productivity. After a four-year hiatus, Forms of Things Unknown returned to the scene in 2008 with a remixed Nurse With Wound track (released on the Two Shaves and a Shine Remix Project CD). Following this, a recording deal with the new Pimalia label resulted in the release of two FOTU albums: a remastered edition of Cross Purposes and a full album of demos, outtakes and rarities entitled Black Trenchcoats & Swastikas ‘n Shit. A new full-length CD is currently in production and scheduled for 2009 release. Other upcoming ventures include a collaborative album with Patrick Leagas (founding member of Death In June and 6 Comm) and Monica Richards (of Faith And The Muse), and a projected Avant Contemporary duo with MySpace muse Pixyblink. Please visit the official artist page at http://www.formsofthingsunknown.com for information and streaming media.