Oren Ambarchi

Although he's often folded into lists with guitarchitects like Fennesz and Keith Rowe, Oren Ambarchi's solo work is a pure surgical strike to their carpet-bombing style. Intermission collects a handful of vinyl-only, out-of-print or previously unreleased tracks. "Intimidator," from the double-LP version of In the Pendulum's Embrace, opens with a contemplation of high and low pulsars of guitar tone, occasionally vexed by inside piano noises from Anthony Pateras. Less predictable is "Iron Waves," the remix of a track by Paul Duncan from that artist's Above the Trees on Hometapes. Ambarchi eases offshore with a signature rippling of tones and full fathom bells, but eventually Duncan's vocals hover and circle the swirling of sounds, leading the song into deeper waters. Most dynamic is the 20-minute-plus closer "A Final Kiss On Poisoned Cheeks," recorded live at Vancouver's New Music Festival in 2007. In a performance setting, Ambarchi is less reserved, creating an array of melodic fragments and noises that braid and un-knot throughout. As an afterthought, he adds bells and motorized cymbals over the track's last third, perhaps to provide a more definitive conclusion.