Listening to Alvarius B. in Brooklyn

AB1Color2014_Photoby_Frank_Schmitt

The memorably fractured songs made by Alvarius B. (aka Sun City Girls’ Alan Bishop) encompass a host of styles, from globetrotting pop to fragmented explorations of the acoustic guitar. Some albums are intentionally jarring; others, such as 2011’s Baroque Primitiva, show off a more textured, melodic side. Earlier this year, Alvarius B. and Sir Richard Bishop released a split LP, If You Don’t Like It…DON’T! The second half of the year brings with it a new album, with the deeply memorable title What One Man Can Do with an Acoustic Guitar, Surely Another Can Do with His Hands Around the Neck of God. In a review of one of the album’s songs for Pitchfork, Marc Masters noted that the song “you don’t know whether he’s improvising or reverently recreating an ancient tune—and, more importantly, you don’t care.”

Alvarius B. will be playing Union Pool on Thursday and Friday, along with Sam Shalabi, The Byron Coley Trio, and DJ Mike Wolf. You can listen to “Drunken Patriot,” from What One Man Can Do…, below.

Photo: Frank Schmitt

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