C Joynes, Mike Gangloff

Debut LP by the duo of Gangloff and Joynes, finding novel ways to combine their accomplished takes on avant folk, American primitive, and outsider sound into a unique and beautiful jumble. Side A’s “Rapid City” is a brisk fingerpicked jaunt featuring Joynes’ unique acoustic/electric hybrid sound, followed by “West Cavalier” where Gangloff’s sawing fiddle and Joynes’ guitar take on a straight mountain-style tune. “Two Bishops” is a languorous and atmospheric Joynes’ guitar feature that slips into an extended minor key fingerpicked tremolo. Gangloff’s “The Other Side of Catawba” is a solo fiddle staple from his recent repertoire (and heard on his VHF LP “Evening Measures”), rendered here in a haunting, reverberant version. The old-time staple “Sail Away Ladies” closes the side at a tempo made for a country store dance. Side B takes a more expansive and outré attitude, with Joynes’ nimble “An Opening” (and the brief noise interlude “Eight Sets of Inverted Commas”) setting up the lengthy “Witch Marks,” which closes proceedings with a dark and droning vibe.