Imagine pressing the mute button on your stereo in the middle of a very loud free jazz record, cutting any and all sound in the house with the flip of a switch, leaving only the faint whistle of a tea kettle in the next room or children playing outside your window. This is the sound of 20 Songs... [+] Expand

Imagine pressing the mute button on your stereo in the middle of a very loud free jazz record, cutting any and all sound in the house with the flip of a switch, leaving only the faint whistle of a tea kettle in the next room or children playing outside your window. This is the sound of 20 Songs Less, and it would be a defining moment in the careers of David Grubbs and Jim O'Rourke. Recorded shortly after their debut LP, The Serpentine Similar, this effort sheds the Bastro sound in favor of an emphasis on clever post-production and editing. It should come as no surprise, then, that it was the first Gastr del Sol release featuring O'Rourke. Acoustic guitars and reverberated pianos echo in the background. At other times, faint electronics bubble over children playing in a park and at any moment one or the other could drop out unexpectedly in favor of something new or, in some cases, complete silence. This is a definitively postmodern work, a very stark recording concerned much more with process than thematic structure. It does have its rewards, though, and listeners with open ears will find that inside this sometimes difficult material are a handful of moments both humorous and romantic. The inclusion of the second side of this disc on the Teenbeat compilation Wakefield, Vol. 3: Superstars on Forty-Five was reportedly unauthorized. ~ Brandon Burke, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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