One of the most charming aspects of the music churned out by underground shamans Spencer Clark and James Ferraro is just how evident the duo’s love of all things obscure is. Between the hundreds of low-fidelity releases they’ve scattered to the abyss throughout the years — most of them loaded with completely instrumental drone-outs that stretch up to 30 minutes at a time — Clark and Ferraro seem wholly in awe of the nature of the limited-edition, the basement concotion, the mindblowing discovery.
Although they’ve both moved on to bigger and grander things, this history of releases between the two is endlessly fascinating to pore over, and one of their funnest collaborations went down on this Monopoly Child Star Searchers release on Olde English Spelling Bee, Bamboo For Two. Though the Star Searchers label usually implies one of Clark’s solo expeditions, Bamboo For Two is a big family bonfire, with Ferraro, Lieven Martens Moana (Dolphins Into The Future), and Eva Van Deuren (Orphan Fairytale) all soaking in the fumes as well. The whole thing is naturalistic, bubbly, bizarre, and completely serene. You can hear the troupe sketching out the sounds that would eventually inform Make Mine, Macaw and The Garnet Toucan, but more than anything, you can hear Clark just going completely wildman on those keys, fluttering about every which way while the rest of the supergroup lays it down with a relentless stream of crude jungle rhythms. It’s a generous offering, a date with some of the strangest geniuses of our time, passing around a multicolored strip of bamboo for you to chew on. Care for seconds?
More about: Dolphins Into The Future, Eva Van Deuren, James Ferraro, Lieven Martens Moana, Monopoly Child Star Searchers, Orphan Fairytale, Spencer Clark
