Crookt, Crackt, or Fly

DAVID GRUBBSとJIM O'ROURKEによるデュオとしての初アルバム(TORTOISEのJOHN MCENTIREがパーカッションで参加)『CROOKT, CRACKT, OR FLY』(1994年)。アメリカーナ、フリージャズ、テープ・ミュージック、ミニマル・ミュージックを融合させ、「ポストロック」を改めて定義した作品が、初のヴァイナル・リイシュー!
1分間のフィールドレコーディングをバックに始まる"WEDDING IN THE PARK"、JOHN FAHEY的なギター、インダストリアルな質感のサウンドスケープ、不穏なヴィブラフォン、オルガン・ドローンといったピースが混沌と連なる大作"WORK FROM SMOKE"、ALAN LOMAXスタイルのNO-FIジャム"PARENTHETICALLY"、そしてそして SAM PREKOP、JOHN MCENTIRE、ARCHER PREWITTがTHE SEA AND CAKEという名前を採用するきっかけとなった伝説のトラック『THE C IN CAKE』などなど、この1枚のアルバムでハードコア、プログレッシヴ・ロック、パンクロックを経てブルース、フォークまで遡り、更にはTONY CONRAD、LOREN MAZZACANE CONNORS、PIERRE SCHAEFFERからのインスピレーションを反映させ、ロック・ミュージックの歴史を逆行させつつも再び未来へと飛躍させています。

At this point, Gastr del Sol was pretty much just David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke, though John McEntire was still around here and there on a couple of songs. There are a few other guests at points -- percussion from Steve Butters and clarinet from Gene Coleman, both on the lengthy, mysterious "Work From Smoke" -- but otherwise this was just the partnership going at it. Acoustic guitars were all the rage for the duo and that's what a listener will hear a lot of over Crookt's eight-song length. Other instruments and approaches do surface -- "Every Five Miles" adds electric guitar to the predominantly unplugged approach, while "Is That a Rifle When It Rains?" is actually a full-on rocker, with McEntire hitting the skins -- but generally electricity was only used for the microphones. Some numbers are near fragments, like the opening "Wedding in the Park," while others extend to over ten minutes. Anyone expecting, say, the fluid genre hopping of John Fahey or the more abrupt but still uncategorizable leaps of the Sun City Girls will find Crookt a different experience. Generally, there are abrupt, quick chord runs or soft, repetitive figures, often with plenty of pauses, over which Grubbs and O'Rourke do or don't quietly sing, as the mood takes them. One of the shorter numbers is among the most intriguing -- "Paranthetically," with only Grubbs and his piano over a minute and 20 seconds. Conversational in tone, it's an interesting if too brief approach. "The Wrong Soundings" ends the album on a nicely ragged note, starting with one of the calmer guitar leads on the album before moving into a seemingly random cutup of everything from full electric riffing to low-volume percussion hits and back. Indie obsessives who favor the Thrill Jockey stable will be pleased to hear "The C in Cake," the name of which indeed was the inspiration for McEntire's The Sea and Cake. ~ Ned Raggett