Thursday, July 16, 2009

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

1 comment:

  1. As a THANK YOU - Anthony Braxton's Compositions No. 10 & No 16 (+101)::::::::::>http://www.mediafire.com/?uydnohnn2zy
    the cover (front and back) is within the iTunes converted files.

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