Altered Zones

Last year, GHQ’s Steve Gunn served up a standout raga-folk record in Boerum Palace-- a showcase for Gunn’s unaccompanied guitar, with a few memorable contributions on steel guitar by Marc Orleans. With new LP Sand City, Gunn joins forces with drummer John Truscinski, a latter contributor to GHQ and member of improv trio X.O.4., with Bill Nace. “B38 Blues”, one of three long tracks (plus an “outro”), showcases their meandering blend of front-porch Appalachia, noise, and psychedelic Eastern fantasy at its most downbeat and ruminative. The casual way in which Gunn and Truscinski build songs from minimal gestures-- the defining characteristic of Sand City, and the reason for its success-– can be put down to the oldest of musical virtues: chemistry. (via Visitation Rites)

MP3: Gunn-Truscinski Duo: "B38"

Sand City LP (+ download) is out November 2nd on Three-Lobed