MGR/Xela — Shipping Gold/Calling for Vanished Faces
MGR stands for the Mustard Gas and Roses, a name drawn from Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. Mike Gallagher, chiefly known for his involvement in the art metal unit Isis, is the sole proprietor of said acronym. For my money, it's the better album side by a shade; The single piece is a sixteen minute-plus piece known as Shipping Gold. It starts off with some seemingly benign minor key electric ambient guitar, which in steps is accented with finger-picked acoustic and slide notes. It takes about half of its length before you realise that the bending, echo laden guitar tones are slowly transforming into an abstract and nightmarish dreamworld. It's a patiently tempered work whose simplicity and single-mindedness is laudable. Yet at the same time, the technical complexity and tasteful layering of the various guitar sounds grants it worthy of repeated experiences.
The Xela side is an entirely different cup of tea; The title Calling for Vanished Faces (a name shared by a Current 93 compilation) is based on a prose poem by Thomas de Quincy, an English author who was a direct influence to Baudelaire and Poe, among many others. Xela is John Twells, this time assisted by drummer Jed Binderman of Heavy Winged. The Xela side is twenty three and a half minutes of music loaded with sounds and ideas. Mr. Twells seems intent on telling a story with these sounds. There are choral "early music" vocals, along with electronic washes, buzzes, guitar feedback, backward loops and, of course, drum rolls and accents. The piece is very active for the first half or so, then it becomes mellow and relaxed, albeit with a tinge of sadness, accented by the slight creepiness of the choral vocals which return in subdued form. It's a complex and interesting piece, completing a fine album which is well worth seeking out.