Alan Courtis & David Grubbs "Braintrust of Fiends and Werewolves" (LP/CD, Husky Pants Records, 2023)

2 guitar players on this 2023 LP/CD. I'll talk about each track in order.  'Hinterhalt', one guitarist is playing in the lower register and the other one plucking and picking.  Toward the end of the opening track it gets pretty heavy like the strongest tracks on the Tokyo Flashbacks comps. 'Braintrust Of Fiends And Werewolves' gives me a forlorn feeling.  Drowsy.  This speaks to me. On 'Braintrust Of Fiends And Werewolves', the finger picking is prominent.  This is sounding sorrowful.  'Song Of A Fence Grown Through A Tree': Heavy psych jam drones.  Hearing an experimental psych/folk sounding duo without a drummer allows the listener to appreciate the interplay of these decidedly contrasting guitar styles.  'Airborne Particles Of The California Central Valley'; reminds me of the stuff Ptolemaic Terrascope Zine is genrerally known for.  English guitar psych.  Gentle sounding.  Minstrel sounding.  Minimal and slow tempo. 'Airborne Particles Of The California Central Valley' (CD only) is a more experimental jam.  Prepared guitar.  Brings to mind Keiji Haino solo.  One guitar is low registered, and other one is doing rapid picking & bending.   Got some Jack Rose vibes.  I don't think I've knowingly heard David Grubbs before.  Glad I have now. Alan always brings thoughtful & alien playing to the table. This guitar duo made a very enjoyable album, totally worth checking out.  Looking forward to more.

Twilight Memories of the 3 Suns 'Dogs' (Audial Dowry Label)

 

Side A
This tape starts things off with some excellent sounding droning & whining multi-tracked sax.  There's a plucked and strangely played winding bass guitar under the mix. Bagpipe is listed in the liners but I'm not sure if I've heard it yet.  Next it moves into ghostly waves of electronics and a unsettling shimmering.  Small dogs are doing 'vocals'. There is literally barking at this point. Then into a Sci-fi space ritual.

Side B
Continued howling, whining and droning wind instruments & electronics.   Bag pipes audible now, and have the sound for which they are traditionally known but are not playing anything that resembles traditional music.  Something very alien here.  Dog yipping under the mix.  This side wobbles from an enveloping tension-creating drone to a kind of wailing, slow & whining  scuzz-jazz.   Theres an unexpected and possibly humorous musical passage  that fades in and out at one point.  The mix on this is incredible.  The art work/notes are cryptic & fitting.  My only complaint is that this isn't a 120 min tape.

Get the tape from the band on insta: @fleshcontrol or @null_disclosure

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