Giuseppe Ielasi, Gesine (CD)

I once played a show alongside Giuseppe. Discussing records made by collaborators (no matter how infrequent) feels confusing enough, without the added twist when they make a fairly atypical album. The other albums of Giuseppe's that I have are full of very abstract sounds that are hard to identify how he made them (being able to watch him play did help). Gesine (2005), on the other hand, features a lot of conventionally played acoustic guitar. The guitar is surrounded by sounds from Giuseppe's typically unidentifiable palette, but it provides an organizing structure to the piece, and its absence at the end brings Gesine to a pronounced close, and 31 minutes is a great length for a full listen to the piece. I also like the consistent, slim packaging that all of the Häpna releases use, giving the label such a recognizable look.