Local Release Roundup
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JEREMY BOYLE Songs From the Guitar Solos (Southern) On his solo debut, Joan of Arc keyboardist Boyle manipulates hard-rock guitar wanking by Kiss, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix–a great idea, but the resulting ambient soundscapes are so amorphous the source material might as easily have been chirping crickets or humming refrigerators. Repeated listening won’t turn up any further traces of the original six-string solos, but it will reveal Boyle’s impressive attention to detail and texture.
ROY DAVIS JR. Soul Electrica (Peacefrog) A huge presence on the Chicago house scene for most of this decade, Davis never lets his pounding four-on-the-floor rhythms or his penetrating electronic ornamentation overwhelm his beloved 70s funk bass and clarion soul samples. His inevitable euphoric crescendos are hard to resist on this import-only compilation of recent singles–particularly on “House Inferno,” a clever appropriation of the roiling bass line from the Trammps classic “Disco Inferno.” This stuff is all geared to the dance floor, but it works just as well for boogying around the living room.
Send gripes, leads, and love letters to Peter Margasak at postnobills@chicagoreader.com.
