"Shut Up and Detune Your Guitar"
People kept asking me, "Duf, when are you going to put out your weird fucked up stuff?" and I said, "When I become desperate for attention." Actually, no one ever asks me about my music, but I really am desperate for attention.
1. Joan Crawford
2. Another Day of Living
3. Subotnick
4. Breetworld
5. I'm Not Obsessed
6. Timing Problem
7. Banjo Tune
8. My Balls Hurt So I'm Going To Off Myself
9. California California
10. Slowly I Turned On The Way To Glory
11. The Sophist
12. Meryl Streep
13. Off Color Remark
Out Now!
The Book Club:
Duf Davis
Tim Korzun
Chris Breetveld
Ben
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What the critics have to say about Duf's Detune record!:
DUF DAVIS & THE BOOK CLUB - SHUT UP & DETUNE YOUR GUITAR
A US based band coming out of New Jersey, consisting of 4 players, who have
ceated something extremely unusual. When you read the title, you don't
normally assume that the band in question would mean they will literally
tune their guitars off kilter on purpose, but in fact that's exactly where
we're headed.
The album works for the most part, surprisingly well, throwing in the
occasionally, properly tuned melody such as the highlight here, "I'm Not
Obsessed". Additionally, there are other tracks which come across with some
strangely addictive melodies, perhaps drawing you in because of the unusual
structure of the sound.
It's a difficult description to make, but the general style revolves around
an off key note, which is run along the various keys & played in the
general acoustiv style. It may sound a little weird, but it mostly works a
treat, pick of these being "Another Day Of Living". If you're curious,
check this rather unusual & experimental approach to music out.
Bye for now, Terry Allen
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DUF DAVIS + THE BOOK CLUB
Shut Up And Detune Your Guitar [CD]
Princeton’s awfully legendary Duf Davis has purportedly had a lot of people
ask him lately, "Hey Duf, when are you going to put out your weird fucked-up
stuff?" The answer is this totally, near-instrumentally marvelous "Shut Up
And Detune Your Guitar" disc. Like some subterranean half-hour "Wild Honey
Pie" medley (which reminds me: Where’s that "Duf Davis Sings The Fireman"
or vice-versa!! -- album??), this collection of self-described "weird
dissonant acoustic guitar" music runs the gamut from severely alt-country
("Banjo Tune") with, I duff you not, a dash of bluegrass, Raymond
Scott-style ("Off Color Remark") to folk ("California California" is no
less than a sequel to John Hartford’s good ole "California Earthquake")
and even p-o-p, dammit ("Breetworld" is as much Lindsey Buckingham as it
is veteran Book Clubber Chris Breetveld). Only the tres-silly "Slowly
I Turned On The Way To Glory" limps dangerously towards uber-pretentious
King Crimsonery but luckily there’s just enough wholly-Jandek-worthy
corkers nearby ("Timing Problem" and "The Sophist," most notably) to
keep things rooted on some sort of deliciously uneven keel. Maybe
THAT’S why all the people at the record store Duf works in have responded
to "Shut Up" as they haven’t to not a single one of the man’s previous
releases. Hmmm. Is there something in the water up Princeton way then?
No. I just bet people are getting tired of hearing bunches of guitars
that are IN tune. Finally.
[The Galactic Recording Co., 51Grover Avenue, Suite 13-A, Princeton, NJ
08540] [duf@orangeentropy.com]
(Gary Pig Gold)
Duf Davis and the Book Club, Shut up and detune your guitar (Orange Entropy) CD
As anyone who's ever thrashed aimlessly around on their flatmate's battered old
acoustic guitar knows, it's possible to make some beautiful sounds without ever
tuning a guitar. Unfortunately, it's also possible to make a lot of horrible
noise, the kind of horrible noise that makes the squeals of a sensitive cat
being sodomised by a randy donkey appear positively serene. Sadly, the latter
is more common than the former. What Duf Davis manages to do here is extract
the unchords that work together in some strange way and abort most of the
unlistenable clangings. The result is like a gentle, folkish Jad Fair wandering
around the hypnotic ripple and pulse diasporas created by Pram.
r/+eb
Duf Davis + the Book Club
Shut Up and Detune Your Guitar
(Orange Entropy)
The title does have some bearing on the sound of the album. The guitars
are acoustic, and they're not always immaculately tuned. In fact, they're
often used to a jangly ukelele effect. It works. I mean, I can't really
believe it, but this sometimes utterly bizarro strumming thing really
works. Vocals or no, the songs manage to convey some truly intense messages.
In fact, the non-lyric-bearing songs are rather more intense. Alright,
this isn't Jim O'Rourke picking, but actually, the disorienting effect
is in the same ballpark. The sometimes less-than-tuned guitars can get
spooky, and certainly, the sound can get violent. Really, I mean that.
There's some heavy stuff here. It just keeps burbling out. Davis says he
only releases this stuff to satisfy his need for attention. Well, the
songs deserve it. This is wacked stuff, sure, but vital in its rage.
Betcha never heard acoustic guitars sound so menacing.
Jon Worley
Aiding and Abetting
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