Alive Joseph

The French guitarist Akchote may have designed the packaging of this CD to be efficient when it comes to packing as many as possible for a road tour — just be sure the slim little guy doesn't slip away into the cracks in your record collection. With a setup that sounds like it involves some kind of delay system, Akchote builds a grand mood by slowly setting up repeating sounds that feel big and might not consist of much — one or two notes, something behind the bridge, the tone toggle switch flipping back and forth. The mood is sustained triumphantly through the four pieces that make up this collection, but it is the first piece that has the killer groove.