REVIEW PAGE 13  FOR  CREATIVE GUITARISTS/ FINGERPICKERS :

Eric Carbonara , Steffen Basho-Junghans, Tom Carter & Robert Horton, Early Songs, M.Mucci (2x);
Max Ochs, Ian Keary, Erik Mongrain, Aldo Pinelli, Matthew Montfort ; -see also Andy Dale Petty-
Locust MusicEric Carbonara : Exodus (US,2008)****

After having heard a contemporary thoughtful minimal piece by this composer, I did not expect yet he also had a vision as guitar composer/improviser. Eric’s exodus brings in mind some movements of whole crowds of people through history. In guitar history, it is most easy to think about the gypsy trail to Spain, while in fact we ourselves come from many origins and influences, a portion of our history and developed mind and culture is from people who simply stayed home and developed and cared for all from there. Eric’s inner voice trail is also a mixture with that. While the first track, “the apparition”, is a sporadic Roman-flamenco meditation, and the first vision, “naked Jane” is slightly sad with a reference to some past (adapting almost invisibly a few raga-slides for such a possible small side-reference), most of his explorations are like melodic meditations with a great inner peace, as if looking down from a window to a nice looking landscape outside, concluding that he must be glad to have settled down where he is (noticeable on “lullaby for a setting sun”), with some sort of dedication-blues to the past (“dead trees in the life of speed”), which speeds up once more to a rambling raga, but still ends with a musical theme that much more expresses a feeling of contentment. “By the sound of your voice..” that voice is the voice of ‘Home’. The last track dances one more time more quickly, like a celebrative dance. His home for the soul expression is different in essence from the flamenco : it has all the space around him which he needs and which he can fill up further with purified meditations of discovering how to be happy..

Audio : "Lullaby For A Setting Sun"
Homepage : http://www.ericcarbonara.org/
& with audio : http://www.myspace.com/ericcarbonara
Label info on artist : http://www.locustmusic.com/...9
Label description : http://www.locustmusic.com/...
Other reviews (with audio) : http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4382
& http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=102483

Previous release (in minimalist-experimental style) : http://psychefolk.com/minimalism.html








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Preservation    Steffen Basho-Junghans : Unknown Music II -Transwarp Meditation- (D,rec.2000,pub.2005)*****

When I started to write down what I thought on hearing how Steffen’s excursions were played, who says that I interpret this all well enough, for he plays with so many possibilities of how to play the guitar that merely all of his approach is something new, in the context of creating with it new structures and improvisations. The hanging out string ends were used before by some guitarists, but I think never like Steffen Basho-Junghans who makes the sounds vary with interaction from one sonic edge to the next. Some high pitched notes seem to jump out like pulsations out of a sonic wave, almost like electronic pulses, hardly an effect from a guitar, like some alien form of sound-sensitive guitar playing. It’s one of those moments when a completely new instrument is born with new possibilities. The chords and individual notes are able to change pitch, or gives warped effects. This is guitar music like I have never heard before, but still with a complexity and logic and balancing out harmonic interaction so that it makes very much sense (most of this was about the part “I”). Then he seems to improvise like on a jazz guitar but again with strange variations and chords. He leaves room for active space even when there’s no resonation left these spaces work. Then the composition seems to be broken up from inside showing a different as usual compositional surface. I wish I could see all this happen. I will need many more listens to reveal it all. The result is worth analysing and learning from it for many years to come. Highly unusual, as a new variation of logic.

Audio : http://www.secondlayer.co.uk/sounds/sound1319.htm
Homepage : http://www.bluemomentarts.de
Label info : http://www.preservation.com.au/steffenbashojunhans.html
Review with audio : http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=20225
Other review : http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2378
Interview : http://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/features.php?which=130
Previous reviews and descriptions on http://psychefolk.com/basho.html
Preservation    Tom Carter & Robert Horton : Monsters Of Felt (US,2005)***°

avant-garde improvisations on guitar and other instruments.
Review moved to http://www.psychemusic.org/prog19.html#anchor_191
Preservation      Early Songs : Wind Wound (UK,2007)***'

While the first tracks, the moody acoustic guitar pickings with some electric or acoustic piano which follow similar melodic lines or accompany like a colouring confirmation, this gave me the impression of being lush warm instrumentals of songs that aren’t sung, a few more tracks seemed to be more like a murmuring and humming the melody in the head, while the last ones began to suffer a bit from moody melancholy so that this could not even come to a singing expression in any format, probably caused by the simplicity in the playing, which works pretty well and moodily for a couple tracks, but then sinks a bit in its nature. Never the less this is a moody album which made the best of a simple approach.

Info & audio : http://www.myspace.com/earlysongs
Audio on http://www.smallfish.co.uk/... & more audio on http://www.inertia-music.com/...
Label info : http://www.preservation.com.au/windwound.html
Other review with audio on http://www.boomkat.com/...
Other reviews : http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=2947
& http://www.thespeedofsilence.com/2007/06/22/early-songs-wind-wound-preservation-2007/
The Tall House Rec.       M.Mucci : Under The Tulip Tree (CAN,2008)***'

Michael Mucci mentions 6 strings and the “legend of Blind Joe Death and Guitar Roberts” as his basic elements, like a building forth on the guitar approaches of John Fahey (to which this first part refers) and Loren Mazzacane Conners. This is his first full release after two EP’s (on Small Bitter Records & New America Folk Hero).

Most often we hear speeded circular picking movements with often melody on top, and slower waves with space and time (while listening to a bird on one track). On the second track was added a distorted electric guitar texturing and confirming an emotional move in the playing. Elsewhere small distorted or droning effects appear here and there. Electrified touches are added too just here and there. But mostly Fahey is stretched, tunes are sparsely given, the mood is present, minimal but energetic, railway lines of compositions.

Info & audio : http://www.myspace.com/tallhouserecordingco
& http://www.myspace.com/mmucci


The Tall House Rec.       M.Mucci : Late Last Night -mcdr- (CAN,2009)**'

From this new release I can’t say much really. It is an over 18 minutes late night improvisation, which is melodic-moodily. On a few parts the string sounds echo seems to get a few moments n their own live, like ambient, before the minimal water focuses back on the melodic excursion. Limited to 79 copies

Info & audio : http://www.myspace.com/tallhouserecordingco
& http://www.myspace.com/mmucci
Tompkins Square Rec.         Max Ochs : Hooray (US,2008)***°'

Unbelievable how Max Ochs (cousin of the pre-Dylan protest songwriter Phil Ochs) seemed almost to be forgotten after his two guitar pieces on the Takoma LP, ‘Contemporary Guitar Spring '67’, alongside tracks by John Fahey, Bukka White, Robbie Basho and Harry Taussig, tracks which fitted in between Basho and Fahey, and which expanded together with Robbie Basho John Fahey’s own reach, approach and development. And even more unbelievable is that he seemed not to have left the same trail of inspiration. This wonderful collection of tracks which I think was all recorded especially for this album also resumes back to a period, commitment, interests and memories. Many of the tracks bring in more often bluesy tunes (Blind Willie Johnson occasionally) almost like picked out of the air, when still hanging in the mind and being assembled in the right moment, or which develop out of a raga-feeling and fundament (with slide guitar, occasionally with Laura Cerulli on tabla and temple bells), then suddenly turn to other directions, while always having some recognitions of ideas making the continuations and conclusions. There’s also a few fantasies on some John Fahey pieces, like this African American church song turned into an almost classical guitar tune, and one song by his friend Mike Tucker. In between the tracks and really making it documentary-like music, poems and some prose are read, one of them about Phil Ochs, very confronting about the need to express and drug abuse, while his own musings reveal farm work and not too forward interests in people’s religious belief. The album is expressed like a classic document for the future.

From the liner notes I also realised that Max Ochs had been part of The Seventh Sons, one of the first bands to improvise with raga-structures from the early sixties, long before almost any body else.

Audio : "Hooray For Another Day"
Info : http://www.blurt-online.com/news/view/1242/
Label info : http://www.tompkinssq.com/2008/10/max-ochs-hooray-for-another-day.html
Other review : http://naturalismo.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/max-ochs-hooray-for-another-day/
Dan Leno Rec.         Ian Kearey : Preaching To The Convertible (UK,2001)***'
Dan Leno Rec.         Ian Kearey & Paul Wigens : Golden Section (UK,2005)***°
Dan Leno Rec.         Ian Kearey : Wood Louse (UK,2006)***°

I was interested to hear more from Ian Keary after his splendid approach to interpret one of James Joyce poems of “Chamber Music” (if I were James Joyce I would have asked him to complete more of the cycle).
The front cover of this album almost looks too seriously as if this is about travelling preachers music (although it is funny to see someone having a drive-in preaching moment). The subtitle however is “a gallimaufry of Vaseline and spit”.
Only after explanations by Ian Keary I began to understand the picture.
"there is a phrase 'preaching to the converted', which means you're on the same wavelength as the people you're talking to, you don't need to change their minds or anything. Well, I saw the picture, and there was a preacher, and one of the cars was a convertible (soft-top)... and the title seemed to me to be a good joke... it was after that that the songs came about. I still think it's funny."
Ian told me how also the covered song 'Burned-Over District' has a connection. As Ian says “The burned-over district was the name given to rural New York State in the 1830s and 40s, because of the large number of religious revivals that swept across the area like a brush fire: the Millerites, Seventh Day Adventists and, in the 1820s, the Mormons all began then and there. And I find it fascinating - Robert Coover's novel 'The Origin of the Brunists' and Flannery O'Connor's 'Wise Blood' are the two ends of the spectrum of normality and craziness. As a kid in London I used to go to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park on a Sunday and watch the various religious and non-religious preachers on their soapboxes, and I guess that stayed with me as a powerful image of the capacity of the human mind for redemption and fanaticism - read Norman Cohn 'The Pursuit of the Millenium' and Eric Hoffer's 'The True Believer' if you want to get what I mean!”. Besides the song submissions (the songs come over light in style) much of the guitar explorations are into blues themes, sometimes fast (picking and slide guitar), often arranged with additional plucked instruments.

“The album was put together in four days, mainly songs and tunes that had been looking for a home for a while; some I had performed with The Heaven Factory, a band that made too few recordings, but I hope to put these out some day. The 'Requiem' (for John Fahey) was composed on the spot: the first slow bit is a Cantonese Chinese song, 'Love Song Of The Grassland', and the fast bit isn't.”

Still more interesting for guitar music lovers I think is “Wood Louse” played on 12-and 6-string guitars, mostly multi-layered. I hope to find more time soon to describe it more in detail. But what I think had some real good moments even more was the guitar with drums cooperation and improvisation with Paul Wigens on drums, who clearly has something of a jazz drummer. The first and fifth track have a Bert Jansch/Pentangle feel, and even when someof the bass string recordings are overloaded or distorted, this is a certain highlight.
“'Golden Section' was the brainwave of Blue Aeroplanes frontman Gerard Langley (I've been recording with the band for 25 years now!). Paul and I had never met or played together - we improvised the music in front of an audience watching short experimental films by Harry Smith from the 1950s at a Bristol cinema. My idea was to pay homage to some of Sandy Bull's stuff and ransack my improvising mind - I don't know what Paul thought! We've never played together since, which I think is groovy.” The 'Woodlouse' guitar-based pieces which are more introspective were written mostly after Golden Section.”

Audio & info : http://www.myspace.com/iankearey
& http://www.guitarcds.net/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=1126
Info : http://www.discogs.com/artist/Ian+Kearey
Info on preaching : http://www.musikfolk.co.uk/aliveandshouting/guest-iankeary-preachingconvertible.htm
Prophase Rec.         Erik Mongrain : Equilibrium (CAN,2008)****°

Erik Mongrain says he was influenced by pop/rock first, then Bach and then by guitarists Don Ross and then Michael Hedges to develop his guitar style. And he has developed a very wide range of sounds for improvising and playing. He plays taping techniques with elements of sliding, picking, finger dancing and hand clapping on the wooden body, used all at once or one by one whatever is needed, from fast melodies to moody excursions, at certain clever points using the sound of body or strings more than just before. His guitar style this way has an incredible rich spectrum which is colourful-rhythmical, and very melodic, at times like a well oiled circus machine (as some fundament) developing itself to a real literature based theatre performance (as the final result), elsewhere more improvising into the mood. Some of the techniques he used from which I have read about were a two handed lap tapping guitar technique he experiments with and some unusual tunings like his G tuning (G A D E A E from low to high).
For this recording two friends had an occasional contribution : fretless bass by Michael Manrig and some synth (?) by Bill Plummer.

Audio & info : http://www.myspace.com/erikrain 
Audio on http://www.guitarcds.net/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=3009
Videos on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKT7dOEqkyM
Instruction videos on http://blip.tv/file/732335
Info on artist : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Mongrain
Info : http://noted.blogs.com/westcoastmusic/2008/11/erik-mongrain.html
Label info : http://prophasemusic.com/erik.aspx
Homepage : http://www.erikmongrain.com/
with audio on http://www.erikmongrain.com/equilibrium/audio_en.asp
Other reviews : http://www.acousticmusic.com/fame/p05203.htm
& http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/004663.html
Private   Aldo Pinelli : Una Seleccion de Vieja Canciones, Montanas, Bosques y Lagos (ARG,2007)**°'

Aldo Pinelli is also part of Habitat, a neo-symphonic band. The idea behind this solo release appealed most to me. Its subtitle is “a selection of old songs, mountains, woods and lakes”. It showed Aldo’s classical use of guitar, and inspirations from older periods into a new light and context, at times with a Steve Hacket/Anthony Philips touch of guitar music with more symphonic arrangements. A few from the symphonic parts were a bit disappointing, but in the evolution of the work it can be forgiven and shows enough variation to compensate for that (flute/guitar parts and the solo guitar parts especially).  Synthesizer on it's own can sound a bit unnatural, and a luckily not too often, but a few times it is also used too much as a texturing effect, which is rather unnecessary. For Steve Hackett fans this won’t be so disturbing, but the guitar playing of its own has more musical qualities than some of the still too easily added parts of mellow texturing of keyboards or percussion. After getting used against my will a bit to the idea, the guitar pieces still luckily dominate the concept, and show interesting variations with more often very classical ideas (“Estudio 2” is my absolute favourite), with more moments of excellence.

Homepage  : http://www.aldopinelli.com.ar & with audio : http://www.myspace.com/aldopinelli
Info : http://www.tunecore.com/music/habitat
Decription on https://www2.recordheaven.net/.. also available from: http://www.viajeroinmovil.com
Spanish review : http://universolimbo.blogspot.com/2007/08/un-collage-de-imgenes-en-suitealdo.html
Interview with Pinelli :
http://universolimbo.blogspot.com/2007/08/un-collage-de-imgenes-en-suitealdo.html

Habitat is reviewed on http://psychemusic.org/arg_reviews.html#anchor_29
Ancient-Future.com Rec.   Matthew Montfort :
Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar (US,2009)****

Matthew Montfort has cooperated for a long time (since 1978) with Ancient Future, a World Fusion group now with its own label and talent organization. He studied with gamelan director K.R.T.Wasitodiporu, with North Indian sarod master Ali Akhbar Khan, with vina master K.S.Subramanian. He performed with his scalloped fretboard guitar with people like tablaist Zakir Hussain, Chinese zither master Zhao Hui and so on, this is in fact his first solo release showing his improvised skills on guitar. Some other members from the label and friends helped him well on a texturing background or for some interactive idea.

On the first track, Alan Tower provided a didgeridoo drone replacing the Indian tampura, weil Patty Weiss played an electric violin passage. On the second track we hear a great interaction between a musical theme composition on santur by Mariah Parker, in 7/8 improvising with guitar, mixing styles perfectly. The most wonderful thing also is that Matthew Montfort fluently and colourfully paints his compositions of improvisation, without really leaning entirely towards one specific traditional style. That way, he more moodily touches the colours of an Indian raga, remains in between the conditional explorative moodiness. Very interesting for instance is his “Celtic Raga” : “This improvisation applies Indian melodic exploration techniques to a prominent scale used in Celtic music, commonly known as the Greek mixolydian mode, which corresponds to Khammaj”…from the North Indian classicification system. On “Purple Raga” he created a raga based upon “the Jimi Hendrix chord” (D7#9). The music sounds pure and not too complicated, while remaining explorative and creative all the time. Very nice.

Audio on http://www.jukeboxalive.com/music_listen_1854087.html
& info on http://www.purevolume.com/matthewmontfort
Release info with audio : http://www.ancient-future.com/serenade.html
Info on Matthew : http://www.ancient-future.com/matt.html