Amps For Christ – Circuits 2xLP (Turned Word/Water Wing)
RECOMMENDED
Reissue of an unheralded classic, the most robust, song-based offering in the AfC catalogue. Originally released on CD by Vermiform and lost amidst the detritus of the late ‘90s, Circuits is a collection of mostly traditional folk songs given the full treatment of homemade “caveman” electronics and acoustic instrumentation, pitched into the red and blown out ever so slightly. The filter provided by this creaky handmade equipment buzzing and bearing down on something like “The Grey Funnel Line” provides an interesting counterpoint to the gentle, sweeping, humanely resonant versions of these songs recorded elsewhere, especially as Tara Tavi’s plaintive vocals hug the berm of those takes. I’ve been coming back to this album since some time in the middle of the last decade, and a quick blast of “Sweet William and Lady Margaret” has always been able to right me when I feel a bit off. That something like this could mutate out of Man Is The Bastard is the righteous reward for those remaining faithful to the skull. Water Wing’s reissue tacks on a side of live tracks from the era, featuring Erika Anderson from EMA among others. 1000 copies, gatefold sleeve, first time on vinyl. (http://www.waterwingrecords.com)
(Doug Mosurock)
