moving to the outer fringes of psych-folk, the dove azima is a deeply american recording. this solo project of zack hay has folk sensibilities much like john fahey’s and hearkens to roots music from an era before the cultural tributaries of rock, country and folk had parted ways. american avant gardists have also crept much more into hay’s sound since his last, more straightforward album, bronze horse. hay himself had written of his interest in naive experiences with guitar and he seems to have stumbled upon the steel string’s extended faculties ala eugene chadbourne; extended guitar techniques in general are almost never as visceral and hypnotic as they are on this lp, however. hay’s detuned meditations sometimes can sound as weird as jandek or sometimes lush and heady like harry partch’s microtonalities. like a decayed american flag you found buried in the woods, the dove azima is one of the more brilliant pieces of americana i’ve ever heard. it begs for many repeated listens and one oughtn’t neglect such a request. -nat roe, wfmu… pressed in an edition of 321 on 180 gram vinyl, with stumptown printed jackets.
DOVE AZIMA, THE ~ S/T ~ lp (oakhill records)
DOVE AZIMA, THE ~ S/T ~ lp (oakhill records)
moving to the outer fringes of psych-folk, the dove azima is a deeply american recording. this solo project of zack hay has folk sensibilities much like john fahey’s and hearkens to roots music from an era before the cultural tributaries of rock, country and folk had parted ways. american avant gardists have also crept much more into hay’s sound since his last, more straightforward album, bronze horse. hay himself had written of his interest in naive experiences with guitar and he seems to have stumbled upon the steel string’s extended faculties ala eugene chadbourne; extended guitar techniques in general are almost never as visceral and hypnotic as they are on this lp, however. hay’s detuned meditations sometimes can sound as weird as jandek or sometimes lush and heady like harry partch’s microtonalities. like a decayed american flag you found buried in the woods, the dove azima is one of the more brilliant pieces of americana i’ve ever heard. it begs for many repeated listens and one oughtn’t neglect such a request. -nat roe, wfmu… pressed in an edition of 321 on 180 gram vinyl, with stumptown printed jackets.