Wes Tirey - Home Recordings (Orange Milk, 2014)

Asheville, NC guitarist Wes Tirey runs quite a gamut: A consummate singer / songwriter of charming country melancholia, a player who is proficient with the acoustic Fahey Americana, and one who is sometimes just downright experimental.

This cassette release for Orange Milk is a collection of home recordings from his residences in  Dayton, OH and Black Mountain, NC between 2009 and 2011. Its an intriguing mixture of improvisations and compositions ranging from morose to joyful, invoking anything from spiritual oppression to intimate longing. Regardless of the intent, Tirey's subterfuge is effective. You'll feel it in your bones.

Berangere Maximin - No One is an Island (Sub Rosa, 2012)

French electro-acoustic composer Berangere Maximin's latest album is the eleventh installment for Sub rosa's New Series Framework. She was joined by Christian Fennesz, Richard Pinhas, Rhys Chatham and Frederic D. Oberland.  Each performer recorded duets with Maximin. The results are stunning. There is chaos and concrete, powered by visceral rhythmic noise, and beauty and ephemera, by way of her subtle vocals paired with the processed guitars and trumpet.

This is an incredibly moving and beautiful record. If I had heard it last year, it definitely would have been in my Best of 2012 list.

   
Read full review of No One Is An Island - BERANGERE MAXIMIN on Boomkat.com ©

Peter Walker - Long Lost Tapes 1970 (Tompkins Square, 2009)

Reasons to like Peter Walker:

#1. Virtuoso guitarist in the John Fahey / Robbie Basho raga style.
#2. Timothy Leary's musical director for a time.
#3. Recorded albums released by Vanguard.
#4. The tapes were recorded at Levon Helm's house by Eddie Offord (producer of early YES)
#5. Sick, sick, sick drummer on this record making his sound even more psychedelic.
#6. I can't get enough of it.

Tashi Dorji - Improvisations for Guitar (Headway Recordings, 2012)

Bhutanese guitarist Tashi Dorji is an exceptional musician, and a multi-instrumentalist who happens to excel on guitar. Live you can expect either an intense avant garde onslaught of Derek Bailey style electric or beautiful experimentations mostly on the acoustic, which is what is presented on this cassette release.

Over the course of about forty minutes, Dorji runs the gamut of his instruments possibilities. From pastoral pieces to John Fahey-inspired americana to Indian raggas to stabbing primal aggression. All of this is provided with a constant sense of grace and humility.

In the new school of experimental guitarists, Dorji fits well alongside Bill Orcutt and Glenn Jones.



Purchase the cassette here