And while the above analogy may seem a little trite I challenge anyone to listen to Solo Guitar without getting images of the Leone style west, albeit with some barren industrial tweaks.
Step into Solo Guitar, with its first offering, “How the Weather Comes Over the Central Hillside” a contemplative and haunting sound driven predominantly by stressed guitar distortion.
“How the Weather…” pretty much sets the scene for the rest of Solo Guitar, as throughout the album, Sparhawk’s guitar work oversees and conducts the echoing and desolate soundscape. “Sagrado Corazon De Jesu (Second Attempt)” being another example of the sombre spirit inherent, the track sounding like a chilling eulogy with the added bonus of a slight Latin twist.
How the Weather Hits the Freighter brings a slightly more intense feeling to the ambiance, creating a whirl of guitar reverb and other sounds that go with the aforementioned title poignantly.
“How the Engine Room Sounds” continues in a similar vein and is arguably the most disquieting to listen to. A repetitive wall of mechanistic sound which at times allows a faint sound of human voices (I think) to creep through, only for the intensity to end abruptly.
Peace however only arises at the end of Solo Guitar via “How It Ends”. A still, composed and petite track, positioned with great effect after the bombardment of edgy distortion before.
Sparhawk is probably better known for his work with the band Low as well as working along side his blues band The Black Eyes Snakes. However it is more than likely that Solo Guitar will provide Alan Sparhawk with enough fuel to drive him onto playlists of those already fans of Remora, Aarktika (A good percentage of Silber’s artists in general) Earth and any other drone based bands I’ve failed to name drop!
