Alan Licht – A New York Minute
Working since the 1980s as an author for such mags as Forced Exposure, Halana, The Wire and many more; and player in outfits like Run On, Love Child, The Pacific Ocean, Text of Light, plus collaborations with dozens of avant musicans; Alan Licht occupies a front and center spot in the realm of left field New York music. A New York Minute is a two-for-the-price-of-one double CD set of experimental minimal works released in 2003. It all kicks off with the John Cage-inspired title track, which consists of a lengthy series of cut-up weather reports that eventually give way to ambient field recordings from a crowded subway station. “Freaky Friday” could easily put the most hyperactive kid into a trance. It’s exactly the kind of 20-minute-long plume full of mellow, repetitive guitar picking that you just don’t want to end. “Muhammed Ali and the Crickets” layers field recordings of said insects with blasts of fast-paced punk rock and African music for strange sonic brew with an exceptionally odd taste. “Another Sky” closes disc one with a delicious seven-layer burrito of shrill, multi-tracked synth drones.
The second disc consists of two long tracks that each approach the 40-minute mark. “14, Second, Fifth” sets a drill in motion upon open electric guitar strings. Waves of skittering guitar shimmer set aloft within the mind a feeling of nervous meditation. Much later, clouds of loud distortion envelope the listener as the piece winds down with some gentle harmonic picking. Fans of Alan Bryant or Rafael Toral should have no problem with this piece. “Remington Khan” fades in gradually over a period of three minutes with playful guitar picking that slowly segues into a rhythm sectionless rocker. The major music mutates numerous times until it finally dies down with a minor note coda that drifts off into the Twilight Zone—only to be rudely interrupted by scads of dissonant keyboard and guitar feedback. Thus this double-whammy set of minimalism is brought to a close as the author of the famed Minimal Top 10 list in Halana contributes his own fine efforts to the genre.
Label: XI Records Catalog Number: XI 128 Format: 2-CD Packaging: Jewel case Tracks: Disc 1: 4, Disc 2: 2 Total Time: Disc 1: 47:14, Disc 2: 76:13 Country: United States Released: 2003 More: Discogs, Forced Exposure, Halana, Last FM, MySpace, Perfect Sound Forever, Scaruffi, Wikipedia
Text ©2009 Arcane Candy
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