Subtle Charms
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It looked like the quartet, which plays a uniquely folksy strain of instrumental minimalism that falls somewhere between Morton Feldman and John Fahey, would have to go dormant for up to a year. Given that its debut, Town and Country, had come out in 1998, that meant a problematically long lag between recordings. But Thrill Jockey owner Bettina Richards suggested that the group record an EP of music that would make the best of Payne’s physical limitations. The result was this spring’s three-song CD Decoration Day, on which she plays snare drum, acoustic guitar, and one-handed piano. “My ring finger and pinkie have become a lot more dexterous,” she jokes.
Vida, Abrams, Payne–all trained musicians–and self-taught harmonium player Jim Dorling met through the Myopic Books free-improv scene, and in 1997 they started Town and Country with the intent of improvising in such a way that their performances would resemble Feldman’s abstract, slowly developing compositions. They tried this for a while using electric guitars and prerecorded tape, but they inevitably found themselves jamming. Then one day Abrams introduced a written piece, “So That I May Come Back,” which called for an all-acoustic lineup–himself and Payne on upright bass, Vida on acoustic guitar, and Dorling on harmonium. The format stuck.
Town and Country will test out its set at a record-release party for It All Has to Do With It on Saturday night at the Hideout.
