Restoration of Temperment / If You So Choose

Split LP on 180 gram vinyl.
Limited pressing of 500 copies.

Lichens is the solo vehicle of Chicago resident Robert Lowe (90 Day Men). Using only the barest tools -- electric guitar, a loop pedal, and his own voice -- Lowe creates reverent, soothing psychedelic hymns that carry an emotional resonance far outstripping their minimalist origins.

Restoration of Temperment (sic) is just such a lulling meditation, with loping, melodic guitar runs buttressed by subtle fl ecks of reversed guitar feedback and solemn, glacial drones. Over these fourteen-and-a-half minutes, Lowe’s quavering, non-verbal vocal lamentations run the gamut from guttural grunts to ecstatic falsetto punctuations, all situated atop understated guitar work that modulates between quietly plucked passages and slow, searing leads refl ective of the patiently jubilant vibe being exuded here.

Baltimore-based artist-musician Alexandra Macchi, aka Lexie Mountain, has been raising her particular brand of vocal-based ruckus for several years now, both solo and with her all-female a’capella group, The Lexie Mountain Boys.

In both settings, Macchi’s work foregrounds a fascination with the detritus of language. Snippets of conversations, aborted sentences, and pre-verbal mumblings serve as both infl uence and content for her performances, which combine delayed psychedelic-soul hollers reminiscent of Meredith Monk with pre-recorded backing tapes and a healthy margin of leeway for spontaneous tangents -- which, on any given night, can include anything from near-comedy bits to (as heard here) incorporating hecklers from the crowd into the show. If You So Choose documents a live set recorded at Lenny’s in Atlanta during February of 2006.