MUSIC REVIEW - Dragon Fagot

Artist: Dragon Fagot and thee Crystal Skulls in Tibet
Title: self-titled

Label: Earjerk
Catalog No.: EJK-43
c20

Recorded and Mastered by Endless

A warming assortment of medium mellow, psychedelic sounds served up by Madison wierdos at a South Side Pizza Parlor. Side A: “IO was recorded live, August 23, 2009 at the Glass Nickel.” Side B: “OI was recorded live, sometime in 2009, somewhere else.”

The charm of IO’s improvisations lie within the uplifting textures created by electric guitar noodling, slowly evolving synth progressions and live tape. Trippy man. The spaced out timbre of Karen Elliot’s choice electronics provide an informative reference to Karen’s work with Second Family Band and Davenport. Long delay, reminiscent of the steel drum voice on a Yamaha DX7, melts into cosmic drone clusters while tapes of similar sounding synths slow down and speed up. The guitar wanks on.

Overall volume climaxes when the tape is flipped. DF’s time machine, loop pedal and delay knobs are dialed back a few settings to an earlier period when the guitar player didn't take quite as many solo ops. Shorter splashes of reverb bow to the arrival of a massive, boomy bass section with warmth and presence that sink me deep into my armchair. I attribute much of this satisfaction to Endless’s vintage, analog recording and mastering style, which always leaves me with an all-inclusive, feel-good vibe.  

According to Urban Dictionary, a “dragon fag” is someone who is deeply involved in card trading games. I have no idea if and/or how this applies to Dragon Fagot.

By Troy Schafer