"Junghans communicates oceans of joy and fear and sorrow and transcendence," writes Byron Coley inside Inside. This German guitarist bangs away on an acoustic guitar, recalling the modal weirdness of his mentor Robbie Basho but infusing his own vision over the proceedings. A five-part opus, Inside opens with a heavily rhythmic pulse that blows across like a fireball. Fans of "post-rock" guitar (David Grubbs, I'm looking at you) will learn a lot from Junghans--rather that combining weird intervals and tunings merely to sound "avant," Junghans carefully chooses rhythms and intervals to finely accent his ideas. I doubt that much, if any, of this album is improvisation; the strings resonate with a focus that makes the music burst with life.
I was chatting with fellow writer Daron Gardner this afternoon and I suggested that all records can be divided into two types: records that get better with each listen and records that get worse. Inside definitely classifies as the first type; since I received this record from fakejazz over a month ago I've found myself continually drawn to it. I love the symmetrical composition of the entire piece, the sheets of sound that flow out of Junghans' guitar, and the hues of each note.
The second movement lays out an array of bizarre notes, bending and disappearing into the atmosphere. It's the acoustic guitar equivalent of an electrical storm, sounding like sparks flying in the night sky. It's unlike anything I've ever heard on acoustic guitar before, but its inventiveness doesn't overshadow its power.
A sound sketch as alien as this one really radiates "genius." Junghans perhaps achieves the perfect mix of influence and new ideas. The final movement (like the first) pulses in a manner more akin to electronic music; the fact that it is solo acoustic guitar should be reason for a whole legion of Junghans disciples to take up the torch and play guitar.
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