Generator Man

By 1993, the market for instrumental guitar records had shrunk significantly from its late-'80s zenith, and instrumental specialty label Shrapnel Records modified operations in order to cut costs. Instead of sending budding guitar heroes into studios to record their hyper-speed ramblings, Shrapnel elected to furnish artists with inexpensive home-recording gear and allow them to complete their opuses alone on the cheap. Produced, engineered, and mixed by Darren Housholder himself, Generator Man is one such release. The guitarist also performed all the instruments and even programmed the drums. It's amazing how good the record sounds when considering the enormous amount of work one man had to put into it. That's not to say that Housholder's second Shrapnel release isn't without its rough spots. A very uneven bass track threatens to dismantle the sublime "Bright New Place" just before falling back into place, and the generic drum machine beats give tracks like "Keep the Ya Going" an unfortunate car-commercial sonic quality. Fortunately, "Bright New Place" and "Room for Despair" overcome all the production obstacles and stand out as Housholder's best compositions. The elements that these songs highlight are precisely what is missing from the rest of the instrumentalist's repertoire: relaxed and memorable melodies. Heavier than the shredder's debut release, Generator Man is a more coherent effort and includes Housholder's best songwriting yet.