Myles Boisen: Scrambledisc

Tracking the musical interests of guitarist Myles Boisen finds him moving from order to increasing hubbub. His output with the West Coast band Splatter Trio, although never staid, evolved (or de-evolved) from the punk-jazz roots into a series of cut-up statements. Their final work Hi-Fi Junk Note (Rastascan 1995) is still being pieced together by a forensic team of musical investigators.

Boisen has been working as much behind the scenes in music as he has in front of a microphone. His studio production expertise has been called for on over 150 discs including work by Anthony Braxton, John Butcher, and Derek Bailey (and that’s just the B’s). His producer role has played a large part in the manipulations of these sides, because this disc is as much about recorded music as it is collage. Boisen taped performances by the individual musicians, then mixed them with his own guitar for a studio-meets-source materials. The result is a three part self-described “Sonic Painting,” a scrambledisc of music. Like the aforementioned Hi-Fi Junk Note, Boisen applies post-production methods to sequence three lengthy (from nearly 12 to 15 minutes) tracks. His manipulations are arranged “by ear” as much as chance. Much to ponder here, for anarchists never fully reveal their sources or motives. The music is scary, noisy, and dense in parts only to unveil calmer quotations.

Also included are seven shorter tracks from Boisen’s Guitarspeak sessions (1996). These are more straightforward duo and trio improvisation pieces.

Mom never said improvisational music was going to be easy to deal with. But you gotta deal with this stuff regularly.