Matteo Liberatore: Solos

Matteo Liberatore presents, with Solos, an unorthodox exploration of the acoustic guitar. He brings to his artistry preparation modes that include alligator clips, metal springs, bass bow and a kick drum beater (and the bet here is a bunch more), constructing soundscapes architectures that are bold, metallic, industrial and almost always un-guitar-like. In the way of John Cage-like prepared piano, the experience of prepared guitar creates unique sounds.

There is a starkness to the sound, a purity that can only be found in solo outings, on any instrument. A blind listen might draw a guess of "electronics," deftly done, on a good percentage of the set: "Agnes," "Untitled," "Gravity." But when you encounter "Coral," the more overtly guitar-ish sound assert itself. And then "Barrea" lumbers in on creaking hinges and moans from the crypt, or the cistern, leaking into "Alberto," that sounds like the haunting of an abandoned warehouse full of rusting industrial machinery haunted by a disgruntled ghost.

Solos presents a dark world of innovative sounds, an avant-garde/noise/classical-folk-jazz-like hybrid. Strange yet accessible music that seems just a beginning of an exploration of unlimited possibilities.

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