Some Fripp-like cross-picking soon falls away to reveal a melancholy melody before its resumption and a distinctive solo thatвЂ™s suggestive of Mike OldfieldвЂ™s more elegant work. IвЂ™m not sure if the subject of вЂThrenody For Francisco MendezвЂ™ is the poet, the weightlifter or the boxing gym owner, but its poetic nature suggests the first of those. This track feels to me like a kissing cousin to the enchanting quirk of the Penguin CafГ© Orchestra and its lovely, simple melody and both picked and strummed guitars are a guaranteed pick-me-up. IвЂ™ve said this before and it bears repeating: if you think a whole album of acoustic guitars is boring, try putting this in your platter, press вЂplayвЂ™ on a decent rig at the right volume, and I guarantee youвЂ™ll be surprised: the melodic, timbral, tonal and musical variety on a track like вЂTwo IguanasвЂ™ means that itвЂ™s constantly engaging. IвЂ™m not sure why the tracks are so short, but instead of creating a fragmentary impression, it actually increases the sense of variety and allows for more exploration of different approaches to ensemble guitaring. (Unless you count the вЂPesky Digits SuiteвЂ™ that takes up the second half as one piece, that is). Most of its other pieces are around the two-minute mark, with only one track attaining a near-marathon seven minutesвЂ™ length. Pesky Digits вЂ“ which was reissued as a nice LP replica cardboard CD remaster in 2011 вЂ“ contains 18 index points but five of them are brief fragments of less than a minute. Some might find the piece just a little close to novelty, but I think it strikes just the right balance between fleet-footed playfulness and the kind of humble articulation Leo Kottke oozed on his best work. His voice (metaphorically speaking) is at its most instantly memorable on the quirky, catchy вЂA Connecticut Yankee In The Court Of King ArthurвЂ™, a piece that was deemed strong enough for FrippвЂ™s League Of Crafty Guitarists during GavinвЂ™s tenure in that ensemble. By the time Pesky Digits was recorded at Progressive Studios in 1991, they had been through Robert FrippвЂ™s Guitar Craft course (held in Auckland in 1990) and unsurprisingly, adopted some of the guitar masterвЂ™s techniques.ДЇans of FrippвЂ™s group King Crimson may recognise the odd familiar chord sequence here, and the influence of the kind of picking style he used in the 1980s iteration of that group is manifest.ДЇripp may have also influenced the groupвЂ™s decision to explore alternative tunings and ways to unleash wider dynamics than one would expect from a bunch of acoustic guitarists вЂ“ 11 of them, in this instance.Дespite all that, Gitbox Rebellion is not simply Fripp-lite, and while I assume that all members contributed to the compositions (writing credits are not given), itвЂ™s GavinвЂ™s compositional personality that asserts itself most strongly. Gitbox Rebellion was/are a guitar ensemble created in 1988 by Nigel Gavin. Gitbox Rebellion 21st Century reunion lineup But itвЂ™s easy to imagine how inspired they must have been by their very first project, an album that sounds as fresh and charming in 2021 as it was on its release 30 years ago. Courbois left the band in early 2004.Rattle was a bold move, because it had no commercial ambitions, and there really werenвЂ™t any similarly-focused local endeavours to provide tips. Recorded by Allan Muller of the band Metal Molly, the album showed the band at the brink of a breakthrough. Steering By the Stars on Munich Records followed (preceded by The Low Road EP). In 2001, bassist and backup vocalist Camille Courbois joined the group. The disc also featured guest appearances by Carol van Dyk and Herman Bunskoeke of Bettie Serveert, among others.

The follow-up, Soulsharks, was released by Brinkman in 1998, and marked the debut of drummer Peter Palermo. The band toured Europe and the United States to support the disc. Back in Holland, van Niele recruited Verdwaald and Wilf Plum to record the band's first full-length release, Our Lady of the Highway, which debuted in 1995 on Brinkman Records. The debut included bluesy covers of the Meat Puppets' 'Lake of Fire' and the Urinals' 'Hologram,' as well as the startling title track. The sessions were later released on the Last Night I Dreamed of Gary, Indiana EP. Roeland van Niele formed indie pop/rock group Gitbox in 1994 when the Holland native recorded the band's earliest recordings along with Maarten Verdwaald, ex-Big Trouble House member Phil Harder, and Herman Antonisse.

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