David Grubbs-- Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange. (Table of the Elements 30)

The packaging is the big tipoff. It took me a good long while, staring at the cover, before I noticed that there were little lines on it. The CD booklet is the same: no identification, just very subtle lines of metallic mauve on a background of slightly paler metallic mauve. Mercifully, the CD spine identifies the artist, and he does thank a couple of people (Mayo Thompson, Bernhard G., but of course) on the CD itself.

What we have here is three meditations on piano with minimal incursions of guitar at three minutes, 12 minutes and 14 minutes long. Repeated figures are the modus operandi, haltingly played. If you are predisposed to this sort of thing, you will enjoy it in a contemplative fashion, either with coffee and a good book or while arranging your CDs in reverse alphabetical order. If you are not predisposed to this sort of thing, you may utter the offending question: "If this was on Windham Hill, would I still like it?" Because there is very little to distinguish it from that sort of thing.

What we have here is theory music. Maybe even music theory. Y'all argue about it.

---Tyler Magill