VARIOUS ARTISTS / 156 Strings (Cuneiform)
Compiled by renowned guitarist and connoisseur of culture-clash Henry
Kaiser, 156 Strings is a hand-picked compendium of acoustic guitar players
Kaiser feels contributed or contribute to the expansion of the instrument's
parameters. Inspired by kindred spirits Fred Frith and the late John Fahey
(who documented many guitarists like Robbie Basho, Peter Lang, and Duck
Baker on his own Takoma label), Kaiser sets out to show the spirit of
adventurous acoustic guitar then and now, and sees himself as an editor
somewhere between Frith and Fahey. Indeed, many of Fahey's friends (all the
abovementioned) appear here, as well as relatively younger disciples Nels
Cline, Steffen Basho-Junghans, Rod Poole etc.
KRONOS QUARTET / Nuevo (Nonesuch)
Such a fabulous thing, this record. Not merely another modern string
quartet thing to be filed away in the Classical bin at Tower, Nuevo is an
all-emcompassing, completely ambitious project centered around Mexico, it's
sounds and culture, both on the surface and hidden. Utilizing amazing
instruments in a way akin to the more recent Tom Waits discs (though
Waits' musicians have yet to be credited to "ivy leaf"), collaborating with
local arrangers/musicians (including a man with one arm) and throwing out
curves into every conceivable genre (dance, pop, experimentation, even an
Esquivel cover), this is a really inspirational piece of work from an
ensemble I thought I had pretty much figured out.
IOWASKA / Vine of Souls (Alternative Tentacles)
Gotta hand it to Jello Biafra, he sure has picked out some upstanding Brits
for his label's roster. The last one was the 1980's British punk/metal band
Amebix, who were dreadfully unhip in the press back then for their love of
Sabbath and Motorhead, and I am sure Iowaska are garnering much hatred from
NME scribes as well these days. Their hippie/dreads appearance alone
probably have ensured zero press. But this is a kickass record; imagine
Siouxsie joining Crass with a ton of dope-smoke Hawkwind globule
guitar action, add tons of earth-worship, gender-fuck politics
courtesy vocalist/guitarist Sam Skraeling (thats Ms. Sam
Skraeling) and driving Neu-ish repetition. This may put the Goth scene
and the Batcave back in biz over in the UK if ears pick up this great
disc. Then you'll see that Southern Death Cult reunion, right?
EL-P / Fantastic Damage (Definitive Jux)
I'm sure this thing is going to be as huge as anything, and you probably
don't need the WFMU list to tell you about this with lightboxes in every
store around town, but damn, this is one mindblowing record. Back with his
old combo Company Flow, El-P (pronounced Ell-Pee) threw twisted influences
(they are probably the only hiphoppers to throw in samples of Jodorowsky
flicks for example) together and inspired a whole slew of independent-minded
MCs and beatsters to take hip-hop into even weirder zones. Emerging solo,
El-P gets dark. Really dark. Half of the beats sound like they are emenating
from some kind of malfunctioning boxes, the atmosphere is most toxic and
crushing, and lyrics continue to mix up personal stories with cyborg-ridden
landscapes (including one song where he addresses his childhood traumas by
depicting a world where abusive stepfathers roll off a machine assembly line
in a factory). It seems that old-guard fans are already crying
sell-out, and El-P spends some energy dissing Rawkus as well. From a
sonic point of view though, this thing kills even more than the
Cannibal Ox disc.
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