Various Artists

The Stroke That Kills

Label: New World Records Country: USA

"Over the past twenty-plus years, Seth Josel has established himself as a leader in helping to shape the electric guitar's burgeoning future as a "classical" instrument. This album is a statement not only of his artistry as a performer, but also as a curator of new music for the guitar. The six pieces on this recording demonstrate a variety of means and approaches spanning the reified electric flamenco of David Dramm to the sound-art abstractions of Gustavo Matamoros.

David Dramm's (b. 1961) The Stroke That Kills (1993) is rooted in the fierce rhythmic strumming of the flamenco style, but its translation to the electric guitar propels the music to a harder, more vicious place. Michael Fiday's (b. 1961) "Slapback" (1997) is inspired by a live recording of The Who in which the guitarist Pete Townsend plays a duet with himself as his sound echoes off the arena wall. In "Slapback", the guitar performance-heard in the right stereo channel-is repeated, by means of an electronic delay unit, one eighth-note later in the left stereo channel. Like Slapback, Eve Beglarian's (b. 1958) "Until It Blazes" (2001) utilizes an electronic delay to augment the guitarist's performance, but unlike in the Fiday, Beglarian's use of echo does not create a separate contrapuntal line. Rather, it helps create a soundspace in which the delay effect promotes a sense of ambient depth and a more subtle sense of syncopation. Tom Johnson's (b. 1939) "Canon for Six Guitars" (1998) is a process piece where rigorous adherence to its initial conditions of pitch and rhythm ultimately produces something of a commentary on itself.

The idea of building a composition around a formalized exploration of the guitar as a harmonic medium is also taken up by Alvin Curran (b. 1938) in "Strum City" (1999). The first movement is relatively straightforward and presents a long series of chords, not unlike a chorale, through the aural gauze of the strum. While "Strum City"'s first movement is uncritically and unabashedly strum-centric, the second and third movements break apart the strum's dual temporal nature, each focusing on one of the strum's dual aspects. Gustavo Matamoros's (b. 1957) "Stoned Guitar" (2005) comprises two separate sub-pieces: "Stoned Guitar" and "TIG Welder". "TIG Welder" is a recording of the eponymous device that is played simultaneously with the performance of the Stoned Guitar score. The balance between guitar and recording is determined by means of external electronics as stipulated by the composer."-New World Records