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St. Louis Shuffle (656605401720)

Darin Gray
1 disc

1. Get Rid of This St. Louis!
2. Karyn Kusama
3. Mild Peril
4. Ernest Trova
5. Lemur Attack!
6. Kate Chopin
7. Where Are You Number Seven?
8. Eugene B. Redmond
9. St. Louis Slide
10. T.S. Eliot
11. Happy Birthday Bug
12. Miles Rutlin
13. Alexander Salamander
14. St. Louis Stop
15. Bessie Lowenhaupt
16. St. Louis Boogaloo
17. Shirley Leflore
18. William S. Burroughs
19. St. Louis Shuffle Is Driving Me Bananas!, The
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): CD 54107
Credits

Producer
Engineer Dan Burton
Solo performer: Darin Gray (electric bass).
Recording information: Grotto Home Studio (04/26/2002/04/27/2002).
Photographer: Dan Burke.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Dan Burton; Chris Trull; Eric Weddle; Glenn Kotche; Danny McClain; John Scanlon; Jeremy Lemos ; Jim O'Rourke.
Not that solo bass recordings signify a common commodity, but Darin Gray's solo electric bass outing might transcend any preconceived notions. Here, the artist stretches avant-garde standards or insinuations to the limit. He integrates the sounds of electrical contacts (input/output) with intermittent bass noise, steely-sounding effects, and fragmented lines. He uses his bass as a vehicle for producing moments of subtle expressionism amid sparsely fabricated manipulations. Sure, there are some interesting moments. Yet one often gets the feeling that Gray is performing for his own gratification, as this program elicits perceptions of a pet project. Overall, the artist conveys a fair amount of wit and ingenuity, but when viewed upon as a whole, his improvisations suffer from a plethora of intensely personalized abstractions. It just doesn't translate all that well. ~ Glenn Astarita
Critic Reviews

The Wire (10/02, p.71) - "...From quiet murmurings, scratches and glitches to cavernous explosions, almost everything is fragmentary, fractured or shattered....Compelling..."