Pitchfork

According to posts on the Subtle and Kork Agency websites, the experimental hip-hop sextet was involved in a serious accident on February 24 while driving from Denver to Minneapolis on their 2005 North American/European tour.

The group's tour van apparently hit a patch of black ice just outside of Des Moines, Iowa, and skidded out of control, demolishing the van and a trailer full of gear. While members Adam Drucker (Doseone), Jeffrey Logan (Jel), Alexander Kort, Marty Dowers, and Jordan Dalrymple escaped relatively unscathed, keyboardist Dax Pierson reportedly sustained more serious injuries.

Pierson was airlifted to a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, where doctors discovered that his fifth vertebra was shattered. While Pierson's injuries are not terminal, doctors say that some paralysis is inevitable, although it remains to be seen whether it will be temporary or permanent. Pierson is expected to remain hospitalized in Omaha for at least three weeks. As of this writing, he is conscious and remains in intensive care. All of us here at Pitchfork would like to express our condolences to the group and their friends and families, and to wish Pierson a swift and complete recovery.

After releasing four seasonal EPs (a new compilation called Earthsick collects tracks from each, along with unreleased Winter material), Subtle released their debut full length, A New White, on Lex Records last year. As opposed to the more mechanical, abrasive style of Themselves (a group comprised of Subtle members Doseone, Pierson, and Jel), Subtle traffics in lush proto-hop dripping with analog melodies. As Themselves, Pierson, Jel, and Doseone recently completed a collaboration with German electro-pop artists the Notwist called 13 & god, which is due to be released on Anticon this spring. Needless to say, all Subtle performances are postponed until further notice.