When I was very young, I’d pick up my brother’s guitar or tap on my mom’s piano just to try to see what kind of cool sounds I could get out of them. I wasn’t concerned about notes, chords or songs, I merely wanted to get the things to make some sort of resonance that would resonate with me. Nick Millevoi looks for the same primal satisfaction from his 12-string guitar but informed with technical mastery for his solo release Black Figure Of A Bird. Millevoi, as our fringe music lover audience might recall, co-leads a free metal-jazz trio called Many Arms and about a year ago we put an ear on their second album Missing Time.
Millevoi’s new solo record, as indicated above, was recorded entirely and only with a 12-string guitar, using different tunings and no discernable effects, except on “Nothing Forms A Liquid”. The whole record feels created on the spot and probably was, as songs are coherent in mood but are otherwise unstructured and unpredictable. Most of the half dozen pieces are fairly brief, save for “What Sunlight Does Make It Through” and “Nothing Forms A Liquid.” The former basks in rich chords shimmering from 12 strings that for a moment corrodes into slashing strums before returning to the calm. The latter track explores chiming sounds that somewhat resembles a glockenspiel, exploring the space between the notes as much as the notes themselves. “Life In Ice” alternates among strident strums, pensive staccato lines and Bruce Eisenbeil-styled string scraping. On “Warm Green Discs,” light and fleet fingerings share space with forceful strumming of alien chords. “Bruxer” (video below) is an intense eighty-eight second ride on the metallic side.
Clocking in at less than 26 minutes, Black Figure Of A Bird comprises more of a short story than a novel. Nonetheless, it’s s fascinating look into the music of Nick Millevoi at its naked core.
Black Figure Of A Bird released last September 11 as one of the inaugural releases of New Atlantis Records. Visit Nick Millevoi’s blog.
Purchase Nick Millevoi – Black Figure Of A Bird.
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