Alan Licht - Plays Well (1997 & 2000)

I first came across Alan Licht as a member of Blue Humans, whose album Clear to Higher Time is a noise favorite. This album features the guitarist in a solo setting on two different dates.

The first piece is a long guitar improvisation that begins minimalist and fluid but descends slowly into absolute noise. It's been a favorite of mine to fall asleep to recently.

The second track sees Licht complementing his playing with samples, first from Captain Beefheart's "Well" (he plays behind the a cappella track) and then Donna Summer's "Dim All the Lights," first as a loop and then as a slice of utter surrealism. Throughout Licht seems to be using his guitar to create unsettling texture, culminating in a reinterpretation of "Well" that concludes the album.

Plays Well