Mike Cooper - Spirit Songs & Giacinto

Spirit Songs
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Giacinto
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Two rather different new CDR releases from guitarist (and singer) Mike Cooper, both recorded toward the end of 2005.

“Spirit Songs” collects 10, well, songs by Cooper who sings accompanied by guitar as well as by manipulated tapes and other pre-recorded material. There’s something of a sameness to the pieces in that they’re all taken at a fairly slow pace, the guitar work is in a rather bluesy mode (with Hawaiian accents), the vocals sung casually, often in unison with the melodic lines (such as they are), the lyrics tending toward concern with current-day issues of industrialization and alienation. I did find the relative equivalency of the songs a bit irksome on first run-through but this caused me to listen a bit more carefully and draw distinctions between them. In fact, there are enough subtle hooks in several of the pieces, like “Law and Order” and “Blues Enamel/Red Shoes” that I was surprised, on only the second hearing, to find that I had easily remembered them and could (if I so chose) sing along. Cooper’s voice is endearing enough while, happily, hardly “professional”. Though he cites Phil Minton with reverence, Cooper avoids any pyrotechnics or extended techniques; he merely sings. He actually refers to the pieces as “sung texts” rather than songs but even so some of the lyrics are a bit heavy-handed in their societal malaise for my taste. But the backing loops of his own sampled playing are nicely gnarled and rough-edged; one hears a-musical snaps and hissing amidst the strums, forming an effectively thick and dirty background for his own idiosyncratic guitar language (and Cooper does posses a unique sound) melding blues, avant and Hawaiian lap-steel techniques. The resulting grimy dreaminess can, at its best, be quite rich.

“Giacinto” is a different kettle of drones. Offered as an homage on the occasion of Giacinto Scelsi’s 100th birthday, Cooper took out his National resophonic acoustic guitar and applied to it the Rowe-ian technique of worrying the strings with the rotors of small, hand-held electric fans. Interesting notes by Cooper on the origin of this instrument:

"National resophonic guitars are a breed apart from other guitars. Invented by John Dopyera in the mid 1920s as an acoustic answer to “how can I make my guitar louder?” just before the invention of the electric guitar pickup."

These instruments designed for higher volume out put have been all but forgotten since then apparently, though Cooper notes that Lou Harrison wrote a piece, “Serenado”, specifically for the instrument.

Whereas Rowe and others, as far as I know, use these fans with electric guitars and, consequently, also deal with the ensuing interference between energy sources, with Cooper it’s a mostly (though I believe I hear the odd instance of electronic enhancement) acoustic phenomenon and it’s mighty impressive. Drones, drones and more drones with ringing metallic overtones and, presumably due to the structure of the guitar, huge resonances. There are seven tracks, providing attacks that vary enough to more than maintain interest even if they pretty much share the same area code. Again, as is the case with “Spirit Songs”, it sounds rather unlike anything else around though I find this one the more rewarding listen. It’s great aural fun and well worth seeking out.

Both discs, I believe, are only available straight from Mr. Cooper.

www.cooparia.org.uk