Biography
Solo(w) guitar
Solo Guitar is the album length debut from Alan Sparhawk of the minimalist-indie- pop band Low. Listeners expecting the rock & roll element Sparhawk’s recently become known for with the Black-Eyed Snakes will be surprise to hear guitar exploration in the vein of “Do You Know How to Waltz ?" or “Will the Night".
Guitar sounds are in the vein of underground stars like Aarktica & Reynols as well as guitar heroes like Eddie VanHalen. The entire album was recorded live using guitar loops & reverb allowing a greater immediacy & improvisation to the guitar work than a more orchestrated approach would allow. Without the constraints of working with any sounds not at the control of his hands or feet, Sparhawk is able to push his guitar to fill the entire audio spectrum. The songs begin with single notes that often build up to be larger
than an orchestra playing Ligeti. The disc shows both sides of guitar drone, the aggression of playing a guitar by beating it with a fist & the inheritpeacefulness in a heavily reverbed slow crescendo.