Licht, Alan / Rabbi Sky

Siltbreeze

Big Al sure gets around don't he? Snoots and scuds know him from his collaborations with Loren Mazzacane Connors, smurfs from his stint in Run On, and snoids from his presence in Blue Humans, whereas true snerts can trace him all the way back to Love Child. But only bona fide spiffs and industry professionals such as yourself are familiar with all his dalliances, including his burgeoning solo career, which, release-wise, can now be stacked three high. Musically, it would be rather fantastic to describe Rabbi Sky as a hybridization of his previous two efforts (The Evan Dando Of Noise? [Corpus Hermeticum, 1997] and Sink The Aging Process [Siltbreeze, 1993]); if you feel a compulsion to nod in their direction, console yourself by thinking of this one as a most excellent extension. Listening to the opener, the title track executed in five movements, one is cast headlong into a minimalist menagerie; the bracing, string-tingling beginning segues into a hypnotizing, ecclesiastical chord organ drone, resurrecting into a tremendous cut-and-paste finale of looped and overdubbed guitar that whirls around in the air performing a lascivious, improvisational fandango. On the other hand, "All Blues" (the second and final track dedicated to both James McNew and Phill Niblock) is pure aggro-muzz that takes on an almost anthemic persona-a 10-plus-minute battle royale of MXR Blue Box fuzz and feedback carnage that sounds like a chimney full of hornets fornicating on the first day of mating season. "I wanted to dedicate the song to James [McNew] for his continual encouragement of my use of the MXR Blue Box, which that piece uses to excess," states Mr. Licht. And Phill Niblock? "Because he knows how to party!" Not since the days of Felix the Cat have the sides split and the hearts gone pitter pat in such a galeforce whirlwind. 

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