Guitars, guitars, guitars, ... from Bach to Beta Pictoris

There is no limit of what you can do with instruments. Here are some examples of guitar trios that bend the conceptions of the genre, from classical stuff to intergallactic destruction, deconstruction and reconstruction.

All four albums come from a clear rejection of society and music as we know them, demonstrating anger, disappointment, frustration, ... leading to violence and destruction, while at the same time using the musical tools as we know them today though differently, with the only endeavour that out of the chaos something new may arise, something that's not yet defined, but something for which this music already gives some options and hints, no plan, just hope ....

Raphael Rogiński - Bach Bleach (Multikulti, 2009) 

 Whether a menuet or a sarabande, you can still recognize Bach's original compositions, although I'm not even sure the old man will turn in his grave if he could hear Polish guitarist Raphael Rogiński's renditions. Even if he uses prepared guitars, with the occasional hard and dissonant sound, the playing is quite reverend and respectfull, both on the classical and electric guitar. There are some overdubs and a little piano playing too, but this is in essence a solo guitar album. One can only conclude that Bach's music is indestructable.

Eyal Maoz's Edom - Hope And Destruction (Tzadik, 2009) 

 Destruction you get from the very first notes of this new "Radical Jewish Culture" release, which starts with the heaviest guitar pumping I've heard in a while. This is the second album of the band that consists of Eyal Maoz on guitar, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on bass, Yuval Lion on drums and Brian Marsella on keyboards. The latter's keyboards make the music even more shattering, driving through it like cars through the windows of the local mall in your regular movie car chase scene. But it's not all violence, power and speed. You also get melodicism, and incredible discipline, and sometimes even cinematic themes, based on - no surprises here - klezmer scales. There is hope, somehow, somewhere, even in the kitschy "Rocks", or in the silly "King", yet the best parts are the hardest ones.


Ahleuchatistas - Of The Body Prone (Tzadik, 2009)

Weird and complex phrases, tight unison lines, hard and noisy stuff alternated by unexpected lyricism and sensitivity, more rock than jazz, but well, what's in a name, this is a nightmarish delight of a guitar trio, doing things you've never heard. The band is Ryan Oslance on drums, Shane Perlowin on guitar and Derek Poteat on bass. Madness, drive, superspeed, skills, passion, vision and inventiveness meet here.

N.E.W. - Newtoons (Bo’ Weavil, 2009)

These three artists do not really fit in this list, as it's possibly the only real jazz album. Steve Noble on drums, John Edwards on bass, and Alex Ward on electric guitar move us into intergalactic environments, destroying powerfully and willfully all musical idioms, yet the debris that's left actually is cosmic rubble from outer space, as you gradually come to notice, and especially the last track is magnificent in its changing moods and styles.

© stef