Phone Tag

In Spike Jonze's film Adaptation, there's a scene where Meryl Streep's character Susan Orlean, locked in the throws of an opium trip, loses herself in the infinite and suddenly beautiful whir of a dial tone. "That scene really struck a chord with me," admits Adam Bruneau, programmer behind the video game-inspired Super Madrigal Bros. and keyboard player for experimental indie rock acts Tabitha and the Kiwis of the South Pacific. "After watching that scene I picked up a phone and started using it to see what kinds of sounds I could [make]."

What resulted was Phonepunk, a music project with occasional assistance from collaborator Ben Crum, that uses a minimal spread of microphones, pedals and the telephone as a primary sound source.

"Phones are great because they create electronic and mechanical sounds," he explains. "The rings and the plastic buttons being clicked, I use them all as percussive instruments."

His first offering with the Phonepunk moniker is a roguish, self-released and totally unauthorized remix of Björk's "Hidden Place" from her album Vespertine. The track rings with abstract beats and crystalline clicks and cuts that draw out a glitchy and haunting quality not realized in the original mix. "I fantasize about doing a lot of different remixes and I'm totally in love with Björk," adds Bruneau. "I found her a cappella tracks on the Internet and thought they were perfect for the telephone."Phonepunk plays Lenny's on Thurs., Nov. 18. 9 p.m. $5.