Brandon Seabrook is a NYC based string mangler who wields a wide variety of guitars and banjos, most of them quite old. On this recording he also has contact mics attached to his body and instrument, along with some disorienting digital chicanery and lots of overdubbing. There are plenty of sudden jump-cuts and unexpected left turns in these pieces, as Seabrook attempts to adapt the energy and sweat of his live sets to an album format. His words.

The titular opening salvo will give you a good idea of his modus. He sets up a rolling triplet feel picking pattern on the strings, soon to be cut short by a fog of taped menace. After a short foray, the picking pops back in and lulls us into a false sense of security before another chasm yawns beneath our ears. For the rest of the piece these approaches see-saw back and forth, and by the end it all makes sense. "Historical Importance of Eccentricity" shows massed guitars and banjos in extreme strum mode, like an army of Les Pauls under heavy acceleration. Over time, the rhythms splinter and bang against each other, as a cloud of sweet arpeggiation hovers and then overtakes the proceedings.

In his notes that accompany the disc, Seabrook uses the term 'extreme physicality' to describe his work, and that epithet is supported by the speed, mass and irreverence on display. I cannot come up with any referents to this music, it doesn't quite resemble anything I've heard previously. At the same time, it certainly resonates a worldly "guitar-ness" that places it firmly in the lineage of string abuse, as well as the history of "out" music. I hope it continues.