The Morning Book of Serpents

The Morning Book of Serpents consists of rare and previously unreleased odds and ends from Kim Cascone's sparse catalog of recordings; while he coyly avoids specifying the instruments he uses, everything sounds like it is done on either guitar or synthesizer, and most of the pieces in this collection function less as music than as sound sculpture — this stuff isn't about melody and harmony, but rather about sound. "Euphoria, Order and Chaos," which dates from the early '80s, sounds like unaccompanied prepared guitar and frankly could have been lifted directly from one of the Fred Frith/Henry Kaiser albums on the Metalanguage label, or from Frith's long-gone and sorely missed Live in Japan box set of the same period. That's a high compliment, by the way; the noises Cascone coaxes from his guitar sound like they were produced by contemplative but articulate alien life forms. "Microbes" is three minutes too long at 7:21, whereas "Eight Corners of the Horizon" packs a lot of interest into one minute. "Floods and Chairs" is perhaps the most moving work in this collection: it manages to be atmospheric without being spacy — the dripping water and dark, foreboding chord progression give a tensely urban feel to the piece. Though clearly not for everyone, this really is a remarkable album.