Clearing
Clearingis guitarist-composer-improviser Fred Frith's first solo guitar recording in over 20 years, and it's a dazzling disc. While its 11 pieces vary considerably, they hang together beautifully. Frith fully exploits the traditional qualities of his instrument but he also expands its sonic reach. Case in point: the lovely "White" recalls the playing of Nick Drake and John McLaughlin, but "Chains" could be the work of a Hollywood sound-effects artist with a particularly sharp ear. The percussive string-tapping on "Minimalism" creates a shower of dancing tones that reverberate with each other and bathe the listener in a wash of all-encompassing sound. Asian music is clearly an influence, both directly and by way of psychedelia, on a number of tracks.Clearingis a thoroughly pleasurable experimental album that will compel listeners to return to it again and again.--Fred Cisterna