CD Reviews

Chris Weisman | Maya Properties

OSR Tapes (2012)

By LIZ PELLY | December 4, 2012

3.0 Stars

Chris Weisman is surprisingly focused for someone so intrinsically weird. For proof, see his most recent output via Brattleboro's OSR Tapes: an 88-track album released via YouTube. For years, Weisman has beamed over beautifully minimal tunes from his tiny community of psychedelic songwriters and tripped-out folkies. Here, in 11 video segments, Weisman floats between moments of minimal psych-folk croons over finger-picked guitar, and more experimental oddities. Part 1 is all warm melodies, including an ode to his favorite musical note ("high e") and a defense of tradition ("don't blame music theory"), whereas Part 2 is essentially eight tracks of synthesizer soliloquies. By Part 3, Weisman returns to reveal his knack for making complex guitar work and involved self-harmonizing sound super simple. The entire collection reveals a startling, prolific avant-garde songwriter; it's simultaneously strange and beautiful that he's stayed off the grid so long.

Topics: CD Reviews , review, album

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