Spiral Joy Band / Little Sparrow

Vhf

Little Sparrow is the third VHF release for this Southwestern Virginia ensemble that specializes in transportational sound sheets. Derived from the extended Pelt / Jack Rose / Black Twigs family, Spiral Joy Band traffics in lengthy microtonal explorations rooted in the expansive tradition of beards like Taj Mahal Travellers, Henry Flynt, Theatre of Eternal Music, etc. The four tracks here are an evolution from the trance-like gong and percussion sounds of recent Joy Band releases, with the quartet putting more of an emphasis on heavily bowed string sounds. Mike Gangloff's fiddle, which plays it relatively straight in the Black Twigs (and occasionally Pelt), cuts loose here with some of the gnarliest string scratching this side of Tony Conrad's Four Violins, giving the music a searing, visceral edge. The final track finds the band literally standing in the Atlantic Ocean, with their gongs and Tibetan bowls shimmering out a gentle lullaby. "No overdubs, no amplification, no effects."  Little Sparrow has been printed in a very limited edition, with an elegant heavy card wallet featuring illustrations by Emily Keown.

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