It's only been a few months since guitarist Bill MacKay dropped his last album, reviewed by me here, and the musician is back already with an even riskier offering. STIR, recorded with cellist Katinka Kleijn, straddles the border between classical music and the entirely avant-garde. The album, out on Drag City on Friday, is bracing and, in spots, oddly soothing.
Inspired by Herman Hesse's novel Steppenwolf, the music on STIR sees MacKay go from plucked notes to squeals of noise on "The Rare Foothold", even as Kleijn keeps pace with runs on the cello that feel almost like a form of percussion. On the superb "The Hermetic Circle", Bill lightly picks out notes and chords that feel almost jazzy, while Katinka does the same on the cello. The overall effect here is elegiac and lovely in spots. Elsewhere, "No One Here is a Stranger" is far more straightforward, the cello working out the rhythm for the folk-y guitar bits, while "A Series of Doors" is more unsettling, MacKay's hooks like those of Steve Wynn, and Kleijn's cello playing just one side of being faintly discordant. It's a cut that feels like it's going to spill over into chaos, and the tension being held here is what makes this so successful. STIR to me sounds like modern classical music, without the pretension. The pieces unfold with an unforced naturalness that is hard to resist, even as moments sprinkled throughout this feel nearly abrasive. Fans of Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Durutti Column, and Kronos Quartet should find lots to enjoy here as I did.
STIR is out on Friday via Drag City.
More details via Bill MacKay's official Facebook page.
[Photo: William Keihn]