In the spring of 1998, guitarist JEFF FUCCILLO (IRVING KLAW TRIO, WHAM-O, HOCHENKEIT) met avant-folk guru JOHN FAHEY while opening for his trio at a gig in Portland, Oregon. Fahey was sufficiently impressed, and booked studio time to record Fuccillo for his label. On the day of the session, Fuccillo arrived prepared to make a solo acoustic guitar album. To his surprise Fahey had prepared a pile of samples-random snatches of music, all manner of sound effects-and without warning began shooting them out into the studio room through the monitors, effecting a guerilla collaboration of sorts. Disturbed Strings captures the highlight of that day: veering from hardscrabble string-rattling to modal melodicism, the album is ample testament to Fuccillo's wide-ranging inventiveness as an improvising guitarist, as well as a window into an aspect of Fahey's artistry not previously represented on record. An essential document of the New Weird America underground.
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