STRONG, JIM - The Sallow Rakes

Edition of 100. "Vitrine is thrilled to announce a new cassette from Pennsylvania-based visual artist and instrument builder, Jim Strong. The Sallow Rakes runs a triathlon down the middle and back again through Strongs varied repertoire, which encompasses broken electronics, free improvisation, crank-based mechanisms and sound poetry. His work marries dance and video with homespun artifacts of painting and hand-built machinery. The Sallow Rakes suggests the most curious reaches of mail art and sound poetry, reminding the listener of under appreciated acts of the Underwhich Audiographics family such as DUCT and Tekst. Vitrine alumni Mel Bentley provides text and voice as counterpoint to Strongs amorphous instrumentation and spoken word. Rubber burns on a pyre of wet oak. Breath bleeds into the more discreet sounds of the body. Jim Strong has made a name for himself privileging the collaborative and intuitive serendipity of performance. That said, The Sallow Rakes is an inclusive marvel which yet speaks of a focused and individual personality. The protein mirror. Bob Cobbings work in Konkrete Canticle is a possible road marker, but that doesnt quite get the adventurous traveler all the way there. This is an invented compass, pointing to a True North beyond the axises. Here, an interior mystery play of device.-¢‚Ǩ¬ù - Vitrine.