Steve Gunn
Self-titled CDR
Abandon
Ship
Genre: improv guitar, American
Primitive, experimental
Brooklyn, NY
Nov 21, 2008 |
One half of experimental act
GHQ,
Brooklyn's Steve Gunn put out this album last year on the (now
defunct?) Onomato label, only to get it picked up for reissue by
Abandon Ship. It is a collection of acoustic
guitar and banjo improvisations performed in
the vein of Steffen Basho-Junghans, John Fahey, et al.,
surprisingly meditative with a distinctly Middle Eastern demeanour
employed. Difficult to explain but easy to
enjoy, these four compositions are what true bliss is made of -
sterling, twiney guitar improvisations with an uncanny melodic knack.
"Young Subjects" establishes a hypnotic drone before planting a layer
of skilled guitar and banjo plucking over top; the effect is
trancelike and marvellously tuneful. Sparse, sorrowful "For Tyrone
Hill" and brief "Jerone and Jimi Chaplin" follow, but it is the
fifteen minute "Two of Ammon" that really takes the crown. Sprawling
and gradual, it takes its time but demands consistent engagement -
although acoustic pluck and strum comprises the track's exoskeleton,
the addition of spacey, reverberating electric guitar produces an
almost intergalactic vibe. Guest Heidi Diehl, meanwhile, adds
an ethereal flare to the proceedings, providing breathy, wordless
vocalizations to the mix. This record is a terrific piece of American
Primitive style, improvised guitar pluckery.
As it has been criminally limited to only two hundred copies (and
priced very affordably at that), interested parties are encouraged to
snap this one up quickly.
84%
youuuuuuuutube!:
steve gunn with marc orleans live
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 4 tracks, distributed by
the
label,
released 2008] |
