Gary Smith
Selected discography * Gary Smith: RHYTHM GUITAR (Impetus) 1991
* Gary Smith: STEREO (Chronoscope) 1996
* Gary Smith & John Stevens: S/T (Ecstatic Peace) 1996
* Gary Smith: FORGOTTEN ROOM WITH CHAIRS (Fmr) 1998
* Mass: MASS (Paratactile) 1998
* Mass: FROM ZERO (Paratactile) 1998
* Powerfield: ELECTRONIC/ELECTRIC/ELECTRONIC (Paratactile) 1999
* Glass Cage: GLASS CAGE (Paratactile) 2001
* AUFGEHOBEN No PROCESS Vs GARY SMITH: Magnetic Mountain (Junior Meat) 2001
* MASAYOSHI URABE & GARY SMITH: S/T (Paratactile) 2001
* AUFGEHOBEN: ANNO FAUVE (Riot Season) 2004
* Gary Smith: FUTURE THOUGHT REVEAL 2003 (Paratactile) 2003
* Mass: MIXED MEDIA (Paratactile) 2003
* MUKAI CHIE & GARY SMITH: EIGHT+ (Paratactile) 2005
* Bill Fay Group: TOMORROW TOMORROW AND TOMORROW (Durtro) 2005
* Gary Smith: SUPERTEXTURE (sijis) 2006
JANUARY 2007. The Wire Magazine features a 6 page interview with Gary Smith.
Gary Smith ‘SuperTexture’ (double cd) sijis records.
This release is Gary Smith’s 19th album and his 3rd in a solo setting since Rhythm Guitar (1991) and Forgotten Room With Chairs (1998).
Disc one contains 13 solo guitar improvisations recorded live, without the use of effects pedals, edits or overdubs. Packed inside this disc are dense layers of magnified textures, interlinking counterpoints and multiple glissandi created as Smith palms and smothers the guitar in search of new sounds.
Smith is pushing the guitar to the limits, creating a mesmerising flux of structured improvisation. His solo recordings touch many different spheres of reference: through the extended string technique of contemporary classical music, prepared instruments and even ‘glitch’ music’s fascination with texture, but all presented from a live improvised perspective.
Think of it more as electronics made with guitar, than electric guitar.
Disc two contains 13 treatments and interpretations. Artists across a diverse field of musical genres were invited to work on the original solo improvisations. The resulting pieces range from the contemporary electro-acoustics of BJ Nilsen, Paulo Raposo and Peter Rehberg; to the ‘lowercase’ sound from Steve Roden and Bernhard Gunter; the improvisations of Elliott Sharp; the live kit rhythms of Charles Hayward; the vocal performances of Bill Fay and David Tibet; and the merciless processing of Aufgehoben.
Each interpretation represents a new context to listen to Smith’s playing, whether it is hidden, processed or revealed. Each piece provides a distinct perspective into the world of SuperTexture, as the various artists choose to focus on different aspects of Smith’s playing. SuperTexture is a testament to Smith’s obsession with texture, technique and the unquenchable thirst for sound.
Past Press for Gary Smith
Smith’s guitar slithers, swells and slides, while avoiding conventional touch and attack. His approach suggests instead compressed energy, sounds wrung physically from speakers, pedals squeezed, fretboard and strings massaged into life. His playing feels remarkably tactile, producing an odd sense of melting at the interface of musicianly muscle and musical machinery.
(Julian Cowley, The Wire)
The sheer alien excitement of his rippling fields, moving three-dimensional blocks, and freaked tone, glimmer with their full weird luminosity.
(Alan Cummings, Opprobrium)
One of the most interesting guitar players around....an original, quite possibly important, maverick.
(Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise)
Gary Smith, a guitarist so extreme in his avoidance of recognisable axe heroics that he has yet to achieve even the cult status of similarly attuned outsiders such as Derek Bailey, Jim O’Rourke or Keiji Haino.
(Stewart Lee, Sunday Times)
If the mark of a great player is that you can recognise them from just one note, then look no further than Gary Smith.
(John Eyles, All About Jazz)
More info coming soon. In the mean time there's plenty of info about Mr. Smith here: Gary Smith Website
|
