Hunter Gracchus - Companions of The Porch

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4...according to our Phil on Thu 23 Apr, 2009.

Here's a new CD on the Golden Lab label by The Hunter Gracchus which is limited to 80 copies. It's called 'Companions Of The Porch' and it has a rather fetching drawing of a goat on the cover. I'm definitely getting drawn to goats as I get older and I'm sure you'll find you will too... Just give it time. It's a sort of freeform jam skronkfest without the skronk. They make a percussive sort of racket with alsorts of things going on around it filling the air with sounds for your ears to chew upon. Though it's quite laid back for this sort of thing and when I've heard folks do these big psych james they often go all noisey and this treads a more sedate path. It's a pleasing path with flowers on either side and a kitten up ahead... What's that I can hear jangle? it's the psychedelic ice cream van with a giant 99 in a twist cone (of course) for me... Ace!

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We've never been able to quite pin down exactly how the The Hunter Gracchus are going to play on any given occasion, which is a wonderful thing. A shifting unit with Syed Kamran Ali, Fiona Marshall and Jon Marshall at the core, they have recently settled into a fairly stable unit of six, but it's hard to know how long that'll last. Still, while it does, it's producing all manner of magical and highly unexpected performances. The one captured here was recorded at the band's practice room cum gig space, Fagin's Hideout/The Furniture Makers and is a less blistering freakout than some of their recent output, preferring to quietly explore every nook of tonal space. It simmers rather than erupts and, the longer you become immersed in it, the less aware you become of the passage of time. It's a recording that feels like it should go on forever and, when it does come to a close, the silence is shocking. In a time when it's all too easy for a group of improvisers to just go full-tilt in some euphoric pursuit, the Hunter Gracchus provides us with a glowing alternative that draws us slowly in and drowns our senses. This is truly awesome.

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