Horseback

The Gorgon Tongue pairs two out-of-print releases by Jenks Miller. The first, Impale Golden Horn, was his 2007 debut on Thrill Jockey and featured densely complex guitar drones aided, at times, by piano and distant tympani. Though the pieces share some characteristics with mid-period Eluvium, like a certain stately grace that bears the weight of many layers, Miller's high buzzing guitar tone is his own signature. That tone is central and much more menacing on Forbidden Planet, formerly a limited cassette release on the Brave Mysteries label. Here, the insect swarm guitar holds captive Miller's Xasthur-inspired, whispered vocals. Miller's bio references the therapeutic creation and use of music to combat his OCD-derived problems. Certainly the enfolding haze of tones and frequencies that inhabit his pieces reward an attentive consciousness in order to fully take on board, but you can just as easily let them carry you passively adrift.