David Grubbs & F.S. Blumm – Back to the Plants 7” EP/book (Ahornfelder)
Each attempt to process a work that exists in the world of visual art always manages to steal another tiny chunk of my soul, so I will avoid commenting on the booklet that accompanies this 7”, as one flip-through reveals a near-future with the same outcome in store. F.S. Blumm joins Grubbs on this soundtrack to the booklet; a disjointed ride through fractured versions of David Grubbs circa-early ‘90s, acoustic-only Gastr Del Sol. I’ve consistently enjoyed Grubbs’ humanizing of a usually-alienating form, but this is too heavy with what I’m assuming (the booklet helps) are the avant-tendencies of his favor-receiver, who is here on 12-string acoustic to Grubbs’ 6-string. Nice packaging and good to see long-form print media coming with records, but these days, my acoustic tastes run towards something like Bill Orcutt’s living-room/cathedral run-from-the-devil sessions. (http://www.ahornfelder.de)
(Andrew Earles)
