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Chop Shop Project Earth Music (1998, Battlezone / Boss Cooper)


Chop Shop Project is the brainchild of guitarist Mikhal Caldwell, a
Berklee grad, 70s fusion explorer, 80s neo-classical shredder and host
of the award-winning Detroit cable access show "Fretboard Frolics," and
90s leader of the avant fusion group True Stories Orchestra.  Earth
Music combines Caldwell's compositions and blazing acoustic guitar
chops with the percussion of Charles Stuart.

Earth Music features layered acoustic guitars, often multiple
harmonizing melody lines over a rhythm ostinato or chord figure, plus
layered percussion.  The combination of acoustic guitar and percussion
seems sonically appropriate, as the steel-string acoustic and especially
the lighter percussion like timbales and tambourine have similar brittle
timbres.  However, the lack of any instruments higher or lower in the
frequency range, even cymbals or a bass drum, leaves the other ends of
the spectrum empty compared to the sharp midrange peak.

Caldwell's playing is extremely fast yet precisely articulate.  He
features these blistering chops in extended solos and also as rhythmic
elements in several of the songs, including the fast, low figure in
"Silat" that serves as a bassline under the melody.  In addition, he
uses snappy and percussive attacks that compliment the sound of Stuart's
percussion.  With these elements, he skillfully uses his chops to fit
the limited instrumentation of the duo format. 

The songs present interesting sonic experimentation and solid melodies,
but too often they repeat riffs excessively.  Most stretch over five or
six minutes in length, very long arrangements for instrumental music of
such sparse orchestration.  Several songs move into completely different
sections with little apparent relationship to previous parts, including
the alternating sections of "Tribe" and the coda to "Open Hearts."  The
emotive melody of the ballad "Open Hearts" provides a refreshing respite
from the non-stop barrage of acoustic shredding, and Earth Music
concludes at six tracks, keeping the overall length of the record
manageable given the sparse instrumentation.

According to Caldwell's website at www.mikhalcaldwell.com, a second Chop
Shop Project Record is "due 4/2001" and a live Chop Shop album was
recorded.  Fans of experimental and virtuoso acoustic guitar should
check out Earth Music. 

Reviewed by Scott Andrews [scottandrews@his.com]

More Info:

http:// www.mikhalcaldwell.com 

Track Listing:

Silat 
 
Tribe 
 
Message (Percussion Solo) / Jihaid 
 
Stained Glass 
    
Open Hearts 
 
Path Home 

Personnel: 

Mikhal Caldwell: Guitar and Synth-Guitar
 
Charles Stuart: Percussion 






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