Lillian
New member
OK, dig this. Guy Buttery is an acoustic guitarist born, raised and still living in South Africa and he has a new album out (self-titled) that shows off his musical talents and influences. Apparently this guy has spent a lot of time climbing trees in the wild, building platforms up there and bird-watching (although he often hauls his guitar up there with him). He recorded his first album when he was 18 (this is his sixth outing) and began winning awards in South Africa. For this album he rented a farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere in Zululand and invited his musical friends to drop by whenever the urge struck. The result is a grab-bag of sounds, styles, players, instruments and moods, but it all works wonderfully.
The heart of the album is the one-two punch of “From Srinager” which jumps right into “To Goulimine” which Buttery says were inspired “by my journey from Kashmir in Northern India to the Sahara in Morocco in search of the path Led Zeppelin took when writing their definitive tune ‘Kashmir’.” Both feature Lorenzo Mantovani on sarangi (a string instrument from India). The second of the two tunes is only three-minutes but is a psychedelic tour-de-force.
Also noteworthy are a pair of compositions with just Buttery on acoustic guitar and Gareth Gale on drums. The first, “Sleep Deprivation,” is an incredible guitar workout moving from rockin’ to gentle. The second, “Verbosity,” showcases fine easy-going finger-picking. Other great examples of fancy picking are “Two Chords and the Truth” and “A Piece for Rudolf Fritsch.”
But none of these, even when they have the same instrumentation, sound the same. Each instrumental tune (although two have background wordless vocals) is a surprise, like a table of birthday presents. Pull off the paper, ribbons and bows and treat yourself.
The heart of the album is the one-two punch of “From Srinager” which jumps right into “To Goulimine” which Buttery says were inspired “by my journey from Kashmir in Northern India to the Sahara in Morocco in search of the path Led Zeppelin took when writing their definitive tune ‘Kashmir’.” Both feature Lorenzo Mantovani on sarangi (a string instrument from India). The second of the two tunes is only three-minutes but is a psychedelic tour-de-force.
Also noteworthy are a pair of compositions with just Buttery on acoustic guitar and Gareth Gale on drums. The first, “Sleep Deprivation,” is an incredible guitar workout moving from rockin’ to gentle. The second, “Verbosity,” showcases fine easy-going finger-picking. Other great examples of fancy picking are “Two Chords and the Truth” and “A Piece for Rudolf Fritsch.”
But none of these, even when they have the same instrumentation, sound the same. Each instrumental tune (although two have background wordless vocals) is a surprise, like a table of birthday presents. Pull off the paper, ribbons and bows and treat yourself.
