Unlike any conventional document of musical history, the latest volume from Darrell DeVore bursts open the boundaries of genre, chronology, and ensemble form. More Songs of Civilizationarrives as the third chapter in an ongoing sonic autobiography, conjured from years of private cassette recordings, serendipitous tape finds, and relentless drive to invent, repurpose, and revive instruments and performance strategies. As an artist whose journey has taken him through the pivotal years of San Francisco’s experimental underground, from The Charlatans’ psychedelic roots to Pygmy Unit’s wild improvisations and beyond, Darrell DeVore brings an utterly idiosyncratic approach to the challenge of “documenting civilization.” In this collection, nothing is sacred - fragments of early analog synth, chants inspired by global traditions, spoken word, and ensemble passages jostle for attention with raw, shimmering textures from self-designed electronics and percussion. Each track serves as a vignette, a fragmentary but vivid testament to DeVore’s search for connection across disparate musical histories.

What characterizes these recordings is their refusal of fixed identity. One moment might evoke communal ritual, while the next dips into whimsical, collage-like jazz workouts, and elsewhere DeVore’s own voice emerges - sometimes reciting, sometimes sounding out ancient syllables. There’s an ever-present sense of risk: the music is never shy about embracing DIY roughness, tape hiss, or imbalance, giving each register a lived-in authenticity. Listeners familiar with Volume 1 and 2 will find these “songs” at once more daring and more reflective, as if the composer is sifting through the ruins and someday-fantasies of civilization, composing both memory and possibility. As a limited cassette release newly unearthed for today’s audiences, More Songs of Civilizationshould be understood less as a memorial than an accessible, living archive - a beacon for those who treasure the messiness of creative process and the joy of rediscovery. Each listen rewards open ears with unexpected connections - ancient and modern, earnest and playful, never resting for long in one musical landscape. For Darrell DeVore, civilization’s song is unfinished, improvised, and always open to surprise.