EXPLODING NOTES. Review: The Essential Gary Lucas
Utterly peerless, there's no finer pedigree in the world of creative music than Gary Lucas 's and this double CD showcases the remarkable breadth of his work over the years. From the discipline and ambidexterity of 'difficult' music by Janacek or Beefheart to dancing nimble-fingered like dandelion seeds in the wind on Will o' the Wisp, you can't catch Mr Lucas . He's ever-evolving and forever creating. A perpetual motion machine. Even in lockdown, there's no rest - more productive and more live than Fripp and Toyah's Sunday Lunch, more wholly engaging, regaling delightful tales of sound and vision in between his vast catalogue of songs. And what a catalogue. A culture junky and man of exquisite taste, this emerges in this compendium of favourites, rarities and alternative versions. Extraordinary guitar playing with not a cliched lick in sight. An album not only for every axe victim, at any level, but also for anyone who'd appreciate a cast lis...