Barn Owl

With subtle adjustments in guitar style and very sly, minimal interjections from other instrumentation, Evan Caminiti and John Porras have taken their duo to a more cosmic realm. As with last year's Ancestral Star, Barn Owl's strength is in the economy of their approach. Sitting in a little apocalyptic pocket between the doom of Earth and the folk-blues shamanism of Fahey or Basho-Junghans, they access the bare wire power of both without succumbing to any of their flourishing excesses. Drummer Jacob Felix Heule provides stoic tom work that barely calls attention to itself, while tape effects and e-bows give the air shape and texture. Drone here is two-fold, providing a context for the duo's guitar caravanning, but occasionally also becoming the destination, in the shimmering form of whirlwind or pillar of flame. It's head music for lovers of sludge, minimalist composition or Middle Eastern modes, all without much muss, fuss or unpleasant lingering odours.