DESCRIPTION: Boomkat product review for:
greg malcolm - Some Other TimeHoused in an oversized gatefold digipak, this new release on the always-excellent Swedish imprint Kning Disk captures New Zealander Greg Malcolm in performance with one CD documenting the experimental guitarist live in Gothenburg during 2006, and one DVD filmed early last year by John Chrisstoffels. The CD notes assert that all pieces are solo performances, with multiple guitar parts being played simultaneously by Malcolm. This impressive act of plate-spinning manifests itself when amplified drones clash with acoustic fingerpicking and foot-tapped percussion. It's especially effective through Malcolm's interpretation of Ornette Coleman's 'Lonely Woman' and his version of Hank Williams' 'Rambling Man', which throws a lead vocal on top of Malcolm's one-man-band credentials. The DVD reveals the various practices Malcolm undertakes in order to create his network of simultaneously-propagated sounds - you see him playing guitar (relatively) normally while rusty springs dangle from the machineheads onto metal contacts, creating amplified blips, while a foot manipulates another instrument independently. There are some beautiful bowed sequences in here too - even a spot of brillo pad-on-pickup action - and while it's undoubtedly fascinating to watch the guitarist at work, you can't help but be struck by how absurd it is as a spectacle. Importantly though, it sounds great.
