Reviews:
(Dead Angel no.48)What a mouthful, and i don't even know what the title means. (Guess i should have paid more attention in Spanish.) But i know that Giffoni, whom i've heard already on a few earlier PE releases, is a fine manipulator of guitar sounds, and this disc is no exception. On "live guitar improvisation #1" his sound is a bit more violent than i was expecting, but it's an interesting meld of experimental guitar and power electronics with far more dynamics than i generally associate with the latter genre. The use of both continues into "the idea began in bushwick," whose tones are similar to an overdriven pipe organ but which is riddled with noise, static, disembodied voices, and other stuff that breaks down into something else entirely. He's on more "traditional" territory with the bright, Faheyish "for all the ones who i can trust," but the last song (with an indecipherable Japanese title) is a wild mix of tapes and sounds and noises with Giffoni's guitar weaving equally strange sounds around it. One of the strangest and yet strangely accessible guitarists working right now and well worth your attention. - RKF
(Eld Rich Palmer no. 10) Another record that opens with a track that is nothing but silence (though the sleeve note claims otherwise!), which is getting irritating but still there are four left to listen to. After a split-second skipping to the next track we are facing the clash of very fuzzy and distorted guitar that next leads us through desolate landscapes of humming electronica - Carlos Giffoni welcomes the another rising generation of noise consumers that is thirsty to taste the things he has been best known for 20 years - a guitar improvisation and audio collages. You lucky bastards! You will get that all!!! The third track sounds as if Carlos threw a helluva lot of elements into a box, shook it vigorously and poured that mash onto a table. Those very long audio collages feature almost everything which you might think of, plus something extra for the sake of good nausea - a very abstract and noisy background music with condensed textures and a series of ideas that are explored briefly but long enough to keep a claustrophobic mood from the very beginning to the end (frankly, the track sounds like it was ending somewhere in the middle with that disappearing tunes, hushing electronic bleeps and noises, but no way, the sound raises up again!!!!). And the fourth piece - well, Carlos recommends to go to sleep with it. I am not sure if I could do so, but I will try! An acoustic guitar twanging that may work as a lullaby, but not necessarily... The final is disappointing... a sort of a verbal-sample collage work (must be from Japan cartoon movies, I guess) in a noisy environment - quite usual, Stapleton or Al Margolis have been doing that for ages! The record includes, as a special feature, a multimedia art gallery/slideshow featuring Carlos' digital collage works. All in all, a good record! - Krzysztof Sadza
(Ampersand Etcetera 2002_10) Giffoni returns with a four track solo album, combining the guitar and electronics familiar from his Freedom From release and collaboration with Castro. 'Live guitar improvisation #1' is a wild guitar improvisation – taking the instrument beyond strumming and strings into electronic whirls and percussive swirls for an exciting 5 minutes. The longest track (at 30 of the 50 minutes) is 'The idea began in bushwick' which is a complex journey from bushwick to …: it opens with spacey drones and pulses with electronica over, crackles and twangs, then cycles and tones into a quite to very noisey segment with tones; becomes more looped mellowness before building an aggressive head of steam; feedback into spacey synths; becomes wistful then a burring buzz of guitar; winds down with high synths and sirens to a turntabled close. After which 'For all the ones who I can trust' is a straighter guitar solo – delicate and atonal strums and picking. Finally something in Japanese (or Chinese) ideograms, which is a collage of voices, music and radio with bloopy blippy synths providing a subdued support. An eclectic sweep which parallels that of the label and provides an engrossing listening experience (ditto the parallel). - Jeremy Keens
(Indieville 1/12/2002) Carlos Giffoni's Lo Que Solo Se puede Expresar a Traves Del Silencio y Una Mirada de Ayer (phew!) is a collection of four experimental tracks - two electric guitar improvisations and two electronic avant-garde sound collages. The opener, "Live Guitar Improvisation #1," is a noisy electric guitar sound piece that calls to mind some of Yoko Sato's recent work. "The Idea Began In Bushwick," meanwhile, collects loads upon loads of noises, including assorted samples, electronic chirps, electric guitar noise, and even a bit of acoustic guitar-and-vocal work. Around thirty minutes long, it is a messy but surprisingly accessible affair. "For All The Ones Who I Can Trust," then, is an electric guitar improvisation that, unlike most, doesn't use any feedback or distortion pedals to achieve its effect. The last track, which has a Japanese title that I cannot decipher, is a collage made up of a chaotic assemblage of various pieces of Japanese culture - songs, movie clips, vocal soundbits, and the like. Though Carlos focuses strongly on the guitar, Le Que Solo... also shows a strong diversity, as he uses numbers of other sound techniques. Surprisingly accessible for an experimental release of this sort, the album is a very satisfying one that is likely to impress all sorts of open-minded audiences. - Matt Shimmer
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