YAGIHASHI TSUKASA / SATO YUKIE / HIGO HIROSHI
Kumisuru (Jabrec Art Music; Japan) $14
Yagihashi Tsukasa (alto sax), Sato Yukie (electric guitar and "electro goods"), and Higo Hiroshi (electric bass and "electro") recorded March 2003 in Tokyo.

12 CENT DONKEY
Where There Are No Roads (Gulcher Records) $11
Hoverin' low over the imaginary bayous of New England, 12 Cent Donkey's ambient boogie twists and turns, flows and moans, gets back and jumps ahead. 12 Cent Donkey is the duo of Steve Painter (guitars & effects) and Rick Breault (guitars & effects, tape manipulation, Ebow, electronic instruments & effects, bass, drums). These good ol' boys come from Massachusetts. Their first release was a CDR called No Cash Value (Slippy Town, 2004). This is their second thang. Dig it before they dig your grave. This is what I heard through the swelter of Valley heat and the fuzz of too much lager. . . . (1) "Where There Are No Roads" (title track): Birdies singin', guitars whirrin' and whinin', drum click-clackin', or is a train rollin' 'cross the tracks? No matter, the sounds all merge--no separation possible--yet we are all still doomed. (2) "Submerge": Slow burnin', guitar churnin', cranky chankin', lift-offin' surges of hard-pillow outside-in. The blues according to nobody but Donkey. But is that the ghost of Robert Pete Williams rockin' in his grandma's chair? Somebody just fell off the back porch. Again. (3) "Under the Bridge" (over the rainbow?): Crickets are chirpin'. Again. Guitar starts with a bit o' old-timey pickin' but quickly gives way to out-o'-timey drone and very swollen noisy clankin'. A vision of Desmond Dekker hoppin' off a freight train. Not that this is remotely reggae--but the roots are real deep--like the roots of an overgrown tree slowly rippin' up your floorboards. Mumblin' background, rumblin' foreground, tumblin' dice. Guitar soundin' like a busted harpsichord--baroque down in Clarksdale--call Johnny Lee, see if he can give us a ride to town. (4) "Swamp Shivers": Some peckerwood done slipped dowers into CCR's water cooler. The rhythm section nodded real quick, and yep, there goes J. Fogerty. Brother Tom gives Loren Mazzacane a call--CCR takes a whole new direction. And yeah, I still remember them groundhogs barkin'. Again. Boogie on. Tell Lightnin' Slim the news. (5) "To 7 Directions" (at least): Vocals on this one. Like singin'. Yeah, it's closer than anything else here to a "song." Well yeah, it is a song. Real nice guitar interplay--"primitive" but crystal clear even with wind blowin' sweetly against the microphone. Pack my grip, mama, I'm movin' to the country in the city in the sky. Keep on, honey, keep on--ain't nothin' to livin' but dyin'. Have another sip, pardner. End of (this) story.