While the Sun City Girls and the Minutemen stylistically had essentially nothing in common, both groups were sterling examples of how punk rock, instead of being a template as it was for most bands, could instead be a door that led them into a rich world of sounds and ideas. As the Minutemen allowed jazz, funk, and prog rock to influence them as much as the fast/loud stuff, the Sun City Girls emerged from the Arizona punk scene and, instead of creating hardcore for skate rats, tapped into a deep vein of experimentalism, ...
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While the Sun City Girls and the Minutemen stylistically had essentially nothing in common, both groups were sterling examples of how punk rock, instead of being a template as it was for most bands, could instead be a door that led them into a rich world of sounds and ideas. As the Minutemen allowed jazz, funk, and prog rock to influence them as much as the fast/loud stuff, the Sun City Girls emerged from the Arizona punk scene and, instead of creating hardcore for skate rats, tapped into a deep vein of experimentalism, world music, and creative wanderlust that resulted in a large and rewarding body of work. Since the Sun City Girls folded in 2007 following the death of drummer Charles Gocher, guitarist Sir Richard Bishop has continued to follow his muse with similar passion and focus, fashioning music that often strikes a midpoint between the free-form internationalism of his work with his former band and the American Primitive school of guitar founded by John Fahey (who was enough of a fan to release Bishop's solo album Salvador Kali on his Revenant label). 2020's Oneiric Formulary is a little short of surprising given the breadth and depth of Bishop's past repertoire, but as a sampling of his musical interests and a reminder of his skill as an instrumentalist, it's challenging and engaging music that thankfully refuses to repeat itself. From the opening "Call to Order," a mostly electronic piece that could be the soundtrack to some disquieting sci-fi movie, to "Vellum," a contemplative acoustic guitar exercise that closes out the album, Oneiric Formulary finds room for plenty of themes and variations that still feel like differing expressions of the same creative mindset. "Mit's Linctus Codeine Co." is a breezy number that splits the difference between jazz and surf, "Dust Devils" filters Middle Eastern flavors through a hurdy-gurdy, the minimalist growl of "The Coming of the Rats" is a tincture of patience and dread, and "Graveyard Wanderers" is an evocative soundscape built from a palette of natural and industrial sounds. If you simply want to hear Bishop show off his chops as an acoustic guitarist, "Celerity" and "Black Sara" are just for you, as is the more minimal but mesmerizing "Renaissance Nod." Sir Richard Bishop is an artist who has shown he can point his music in any number of directions, and the ten tracks on Oneiric Formulary each lead the listener to someplace worth visiting. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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Add this copy of Oneiric Formulary [Vinyl] to cart. $42.15, new condition, Sold by Revaluation Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Exeter, DEVON, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2020 by Drag City.
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