Acoustic Guitar
April 2006
| Guitarist Dominic Frasca’s solo debut features works by minimalist composers Marc Mellits and Philip Glass, as well as a number of original pieces, all played with mesmerizing and propulsive intensity on six- and ten-string guitars, strung with nylon or steel. In addition to electronically processing each string through individual pickups, Frasca employs some decidedly untechnical gear, such as a pair of popsicle sticks (taped to the soundboard) that he taps as he picks the strings. The resulting complex textures —achieved without overdubbing—amplify the dark, edgy qualities of the pieces. Of Mellits’ pieces, “Dark Age Machinery” evokes the industrial churning of pistons and cogs; “Metaclopramide” sounds like a melodic dialogue between firing synapses; and “Dometude,” co-written with Frasca, is a dazzling guitar race over a heady pulse of trancelike electronica. Philip Glass’ “Two Pages” features a tolling bell-like harmonic series; Frasca’s “Forced Entry” combines an athletic pulse, an unrelenting bass drone, and tapped rhythms; and the original title piece is a majestic 22-minute kaleidoscope of primal rhythms and unpredictable, gorgeous melodic turns. Throughout, Frasca’s innovative polyrhythms give these powerful performances an otherworldly quality. (Cantaloupe, www.cantaloupemusic.com) |