(Disaster Amnesiac) Several weeks have passed since Disaster Amnesiac received Mammoth Flower, Philip Gayle's new recording for Public Eyesore. It's been a daunting process to try to review it, in large part due to my having noticed certain repeated tropes within reviews, tropes that, when noticed, became extremely aggravating. Sounds such as those produced on Mammoth Flower deserve better than that. Disaster Amnesiac has listened, many times, but just really doesn't want to get reductive about describing the album. Maximalist pieces such as the title track, wherein all sorts of musical elements, especially the wonderfully "inside/outside" alto sax of Shogo Ohshima, blend into a fantastical soundscape that evokes night scenes from Shinjuku or perhaps a jungle at its most dense spots, or Zone, with its glistening string slides and percussives, drop the listener into spaces that are almost overwhelming at times. It's been fascinating to note the astute uses of the multi-track recording process on both of them. This stuff is thick. Gayle also finds time for more reflective musical ruminations on geketsutoketsu, a sparse, spacious guitar piece worthy of Takoma Records (not that Public Eyesore is anything to sneeze at, mind you) and the similar minus inu. I Ain't Got No Think has Disaster Amnesiac tweaking as fingers skitter across strings and Omusubi-san and Fuuchan get primitive in the human vocal range, while TN 35 gets all SF Tape Music Center while pairing up with a returned Ohshima. Solo waterphone gets a lovely treatment on Ceann Ruadh Tiresias. An instrument with potential for such lovely, lonesome sounds, played well by Gayle. Richard Waters had a bit of a cranky side, or so I've heard, especially when it came to his opinions about musicians using his invented instrument. Surely he'd have heard the beauty within this track? Along with all of these wonderfully challenging sounds, Mammoth Flower is presented with groovy Abstract Expressionist painting by Kohei Akiba for its cover art. Wonderful stuff, full of blendings between lighter, brighter shades and darkness. Very cool. Philip Gayle traverses several distinct sonic approaches on Mammoth Flower and all of them are worthy of deep, dedicated listening. No platitudes present on it. Disaster Amnesiac hopes that they are also absent from this review. Sounds such as Philip Gayle's are worthy of deeper consideration. - Mark Pino

(Salt Peanuts) Philip Gayle er en gitarist som har operert innenfor en rekke forskjellige musikksjangre. Han har spilt i funk/rock/folk/blues/punk/country-band av og på i 30 år. Og er selvlært på gitar, piano og perkusjon. På sin nye soloutgivelse hører vi han på banjo, bass, cello, door, gitarer, mandolin, perkusjon, piano, vokal, ukulele og waterphone, og vi får sju relativt frie «strekk».I tillegg til han selv, har han invitert med Shogo Ohshima på altsaksofon på ett par spor, og vokalistene Shizka Ueda, Omusubisan og Fuuchan på noen låter. Innspillingen er gjort i Beat Club Studios i Utsunomiya i Japan i april 2022, og allerede fra første sekund oppdager man at dette dreier seg om relativt ekstrem musikkutøvelse, som man skal være helt spesielt interessert i, for å få noe ut av. I førstelåta, «Mammoth Flower» hersker et slags kontrollert anarki, hvor Gayle spiller de fleste instrumentene han er oppsatt med med bidrag fra Ohshima og Ueda. Og det er bare å fastslå at dette er relativt «sært». Det endrer seg litt i andresporet, «マイナス犬 (minus inu)», som er gitarbasert, før vi får den mer eksperimentelle «Ceann Ruadh Tiresias», også med gitaren i front i en litt svevende og som kunne passet inn i en film om universet. «Zone (in three parts», er kanskje litt mer ned på jorden, hvor den frie improvisasjonen tenderer litt punkrock godt blandet med akustiske inspirasjoner fra gitarister som Derek Bailey, John Russell og, kanskje også norske Ivar Grydeland (fra den tidlige SOFA-perioden). «下血吐血 (geketsutoketsu)» er en litt ettertenksom sak, hvor han lar gitarlydene tone helt ut før han legger nye, mens «I Ain’t Got No Think», er en gitarlek helt i Bailey og Russells landskap. Så avrundes det hele med «TN 35». Her er musikken manipulert, slik at det høres ut som om improvisasjonen blir spilt baklengs. Hadde dette vært en vinyl, så skulle jeg ha forsøkt å spille den «andre veien», så kan det hende det har dukket opp en standardlåt eller noe lignende. For såpass spesiell er denne låta, at man (nesten) må sjekke spilleren for å se om den har gått fullstendig amok eller ikke. Det er bare å innrømme at dette blir litt for sært til at jeg kommer til å spille denne ofte. Men jeg vet det finnes et marked for denne eksperimenteringen der ute, tilhengere av ytterst sær musikk som utfordrer alle sanser og tillærte kunnskaper om musikk. Men dit har jeg tydeligvis ennå ikke kommet, for de gjennomspillingene jeg har gjort har vært krevende og litt stressende. Men Gayle er en ytterst kreativ musiker som enten viser sitt store potensiale på denne platen, eller så lurer han oss trill rundt. Sjekk gjerne ut videoene under, og bedøm selv! - Jan Granlie

(Felt Hat Reviews) Public Eyesore as a label is difficult to describe and label as it shifts from one genre to another. It is even more elusive when it comes to classifying the type of composers and improvisors it is releasing. But once in a while it publishes work of artists that more or less clearly embody the idea of free improvisation. Philip Gayle is definitely one of the composers and musicians who is equally diverse and can expose his skills through quite abstract impressionistic way towards improvisation. This cd is a document of this approach and how he set it up together. It was recorded over two years ago in April, 2022 in Utsunomiya, Japan with a help from a few friends. The result is improvised sets in a few tracks with a magnitude of instruments and vocals as well. The sheer magnitude of those is only equalised by the confidence of Philip in terms of approaching it all. The whole world of different sound pallets and the sound awareness together with an important aspect of experimentation all in equal measures. - Hubert Napiorski

(Sound Projector) Philip Gayle adds new meaning to the idea of “polyphony” on his Mammoth Flower (PUBLIC EYESORE 156) set; it’s not just that he plays one dozen instruments at once, but that he’s capable of setting up layers, cross-currents, and energy fields that intersect and overlap, while simultaneously giving the listener just a shade too much musical information to absorb at one time. This is amply demonstrated on the opening title track, where Harry Partch meets free jazz in a percussion whirlwind along with fifteen flying geese and an automatic knitting machine, but there’s six other examples of his “reach for the sky” approach to generating music on this wild album, recorded in Beat Club Studios in Japan in 2022. I might clutch at the “sky” metaphor as if he were an architect rather than a musician, one hell-bent on bending the rules of physics and attempting to design and build a cantilevered tower that peers over the cityscape in ways that defy gravity. The label notes describe his overdub technique as “typical PG fashion”, indicating that label boss Bryan Day is more than familiar with the works of this butter-nut swan who has been active since the 1990s with a hammock load of releases for Yabyum Productions, Family Vineyard, and others, but his personal musical history extends even further back – “played in funk/rock/folk/blues/punk/country bands on and off for 30 years” is his calling card according to his website. Also appearing here are Japanese friends Shogo Ohshima, Shizka Ueda, and Omusubi San and Fuuchan. Actually the ‘Mammoth Flower’ riot of explosive colour turns out to be untypical of the rest of the album, which showcases studio concoctions and experiments which are a bit more focussed, concentrating on one or two instruments at a time rather than the entire orchestral magoo. The other heavy-hitter, lengthwise at any rate, is the 15 mins of ‘Zone’, a three-parter mainly constructed on a guitar with steel strings that are so plangent that you can experience a taste of cold metal in your mouth, just by listening to it. Gayle overdubs his six-string homunculi with passion and force, propelling us into new areas of “freedom” – creating a manglement that borders on delicious chaos, yet clearly driven by the magnetic powers of human creation. If Derek Bailey and John Fahey had gotten into a punch-up over the relative merits of Billy Strange, the world might be a better place. I say this by way of coming to the conclusion – light gradually dawning – that this is 80% a solo guitar album, and the firework sandwich of cellos, banjos, mandolin, piano, voices, toys and other action-painting moves to be found on Track 1 reflects but one aspect of this fellow’s musical philosophy. Plus – guess what, it’s pretty much all-acoustic. Did I also mention there are environmental recordings in here somewhere, including a creaky door, and anything he could persuade to come within speaking distance of his microphone in a public park in Japan. The splurgy paint cover artworks are very suitable to the music, but they’re not his – they were done by Kohei Akiba. Now I know what they mean by “Gayle” force! - Ed Pinsent