Spirit Counsel＜限定盤＞

In many ways, Thurston Moores songs for Sonic Youth were defined by the struggle between his experimental impulses and more traditional rock structures. On his more daring work, the sprawl would eclipse recognizable song form altogether, landing in a cloudy, guitar-based reading of free jazz. With endless side projects and collaborative recordings, Moore embraced his love of noise and free music to an even wider degree. Spirit Counsel is an ambitious but focused masterwork of Moores expansive and specific approach to experimental instrumental music. Still locked in the trappings and instrumentation of indie rock, the three-movement album stretches out over almost two-and-a-half hours of durational compositional pieces for a small army of guitars, drums, and electronics. On these deep meditations, Moore and his collaborators pay tribute to Alice Coltranes floating positivity (the hour-long Alice Moki Jayne), as well as Moores early mentor Glenn Branca (8 Spring Street, named after Brancas apartment in Manhattan in the 80s). The third and final movement Galaxies also stretches to nearly an hour-long run time, implementing 12 guitarists in an orchestral piece that moves between still contemplation and walls of shimmering, blissful upheaval. ~ Fred Thomas