Guess at the Riddle

Throughout a diverse and prolific musical career, David Grubbs has remained a challenging, articulate, idiosyncratic and unique artist. Recent times have seen him work simultaneously on both records of songs and records of longer, more immersive instrumental pieces. "A Guess at the Riddle" falls into the former category. It's an accessible, playful, intelligent song-based record, perhaps his most ambitious and all-encompassing record to date, both sonically and lyrically, and also in terms of the flow and composition of the record as a whole. A fresh take on pop, or a pop take on experimental music, Grubbs' own music is once again recontextualised, re-presented. You'll hear acoustic instruments (David's piano and Nikos Veliotis's cello) brokering peace agreements with electronics (provided once again by Matmos); full bands going full-bore (with Mice Parade's Adam Pierce and Thomas Belhom taking turns behind the drums; David returning to the electric guitar), and at the end, you'll find perhaps David's strongest collection of songs yet.

David Grubbs is also known for his work with Gastr Del Sol (alongside Jim O'Rourke), Bastro (with Tortoise's Bundy K Brown and John McEntire), The Red Krayola, Squirrelbait (with Britt Walford and Brian McMahon of Slint), and the likes of Tony Conrad, Will Oldham, and Pauline Oliveros. He also runs the revered avant garde/experimental imprint, Blue Chopsticks, releasing records by the likes of Luc Ferrari, Derek Bailey, and Noel Akchote.