This two 3" CDR set combines two very different sides of Keith Wood, taken from two very different times. If There Be Spirits, Let Them Come is a reissue of his first recording from July 2003, and Cleaning the Bone is a brand new recording from late 2004. While this set, enclosed in a small hand-painted letter envelope with extra inserts including notes from Mats Gustafsson, was limited to only 80 units and was out of print just from pre-orders (though Eclipse may have a few left), the CDRs are now also available separately from the respective labels.
The more recent recording, Cleaning the Bone, is a slowed-down seance of bowed guitar and a very flute-sounding tin whistle. While Wood's song titles and cover art links the music to the Appalachain forests that surround Wood's home, the music retains a very Eastern folk sound. The complex harmonics of the bowed guitar create a haunting tone and build great tension, sounding not unlike Tibetan bowls. The humming, fluctuating, droning mass of sound gradually builds in size, but it does not burst open with great force. Instead, its shell cracks slightly, letting forth a warm glow from inside in the form a wiggling guitarline epiphany, connecting with the spirit that once lived in the discovered bone from the album's title. As the mass of sound fades away, the song transitions into a much softer, more refined electric guitar meditation for a couple minutes which is completely gorgeous.
The companion piece, If There be Spirits, Let Them Come, is much less abstract and even prettier. It starts slowly, the sun rising up from the horizon, as both Wood and Jeremy Freeze stretch out, playing a bowed dulcimer and enjoying the calls from a few local love birds. After this six minute intro, the song transitions into delicate acoustic guitar picking which carries the rest of the song. The guitars create a gentle sway, the rhythm guitar playing a very gentle back and forth motion as the other adds a lyrical guitarline on top of it, fully intertwining with the other guitar. There's no gimmick, there's no pretense - the duo is perfectly happy just creating a wonderfully peaceful and serene sound.
