Drueling [LP]

Turner Williams Jr. And Derek Monypeny - Drueling [LP]

Drueling is the first meeting of Turner Williams Jr. and Derek Monypeny, two American pickers of the avant underground known for their deep excursions on the shahi baaja, a 15-string electric keyboardzither of modern Indo-Japanese origin. Drueling is a dialectic of twang. Williams hails from the American South and Monypeny from the Southwest. Country fried humid misterioso meets bone-dry waveforms stretching skyward. These sessions occurred in Marseille, France on a limestone crest above the Mediterranean, evening and morning in early Spring. Following a long correspondence, Monypeny met Williams at his adopted home under crackling powerlines and looming electrical towers. Nominally a duo record, this slab presents the dissolve and dialogue of 30 strings blurring into one, suggesting the translucent blur of '60s Cale/Conrad and the randomized grace of Oval tripping over Chet Atkins on a peyote toot with Jerry Reed or Les Paul. Their wide open third-minded automatism honors the history of their instruments with a heavy dose of subversion in Sun City Girl's anti-tradition of respectful disrespect. Who wants to hear a couple of yankee corndogs playing "proper" shahi baaja in 2025? Drueling marks the spot where sunblind stupor meets porchzorch faceoff and the pupils dilate into gaping maws that drool in stereo. 01. Free Deliverance (8:17) 02. Calanque I (4:30) 03. Space Prophet Dogon (7:52) 04. Pylône Song (7:15) 05. Calanque II (4:35) 06. Radio Gazelle (8:37)