Long Rangers

All this heady talk shouldn't obscure the fact that Range Life is a working record label. In the past several months, Range Life has released Roelofs' debut, White Flight, and 1,000,000 Light Years, a CD of sleek electronica by Hangauer's brother, Patrick Hangauer. Light Years is a solid ambient collection reminiscent of Sigur Ros or Boards of Canada.

Roelofs is known around Lawrence for his less than mainstream views on a range of subjects, such as the true nature of time ("The illusion that's draped over everyone's eyes is that there is time") and the real purpose of the artist ("the transmission of pure energy"). His worldview hinges on music's awesome potential. "There are so many possibilities, and sound exploration is a huge gateway into the other realities," Roelofs says.

White Flight, full of strange, alluring dissonance, leaps from one beat-laden track to the next, spraying lyrics that philosophize, lambaste, coax and inspire. Roelofs deftly blends his own spontaneous curiosity with a technical mastery that makes for music that will resonate far beyond Massachusetts Street or, for that matter, Kansas.

Costello is candid about where he hopes Range Life will fit into the future of Lawrence music and art. "I would hope that wherever it goes, Range Life remains a platform for all types of artists to gain some much needed exposure," he says. "It would be nice to start seeing more local acts withstand the test of time and go on to have long-term careers in the music industry."

If not, there's always the powerful crystal business.