Grain by Neil Davidson
Acoustic guitar pieces from 2006.
[...] Neil Davidson, who plays a favorite instrument of mine, the acoustic guitar. It wasn't until the third piece before I this out, as the first two were rather drone related pieces of playing whatever sound through the body of the guitar and picking them up before throwing it around. Or perhaps the playing of ventilators against the strings to create a wealth of overtones. In 'Across' both this as well as rudimentary improvised playing exist. Quite a loud beast.
Frans de Waard (Vital)
"Grain" is for its large part made of staticity - but one that's full of rust and corrosiveness, even if the effect of these sounds often causes Alvin Lucieresque bendings of the auricular membrane. [...] We can also perceive the genuineness of the wood, which throbs sympathetically with the rest, contributing to the whole sonority with disguised shades that will be mostly appreciated by those who are more familiar with cuddling the same instrument (the pulse coming out of an acoustic guitar pressed against the chest is indeed akin to an erotic experience). In its spartan constitution, "Grain" offers several intense moments in about 41 minutes of seriously focused experimentation.
Massimo Ricci (Touching Extremes)
Time was that Portugal was England's oldest ally, but there's a developing relationship between some of Glasgow's most distinctive improvisers and the Trem Azul axis in Lisbon. Davidson's techniques and treatments mean that, but for some busted-zither jangles here and there, it's difficult to tell that acoustic guitar was the instrument involved. Instead, huge, jangling clusters, near-subliminal overtones, and on the closing 'Escarpment', a hint of bagpipe tonalities. That and the opening 'Marked' contain the meat of the set. The earlier piece moves to exhausted stasis and then recovers its momentum.
Brian Morton (Wire)
