Sam Esh & Hard Black Thing, Montezuma Baby Duck (side A)

1994's Montezuma Baby Duck is divided into two very different sides, both of which spotlight the idiosyncratic personality of Sam Esh.  On side A, he plays in a shambling but plodding rock band, whose notable member is Columbus stalwart Mike "Rep" Hummel.  The only remote comparison for this quartet is Philemon Arthur & the Dung, who also play a vaguely blues/garage tinged mess, with simple songs that plod along until they stop.  Where Philemon Arthur seem to be singing in Swedish (or at least something that sounds a bit like it to my naïve ears), Sam Esh's lyrics distinctly reside in a language known only to him.  The trumpet differentiates the group's instrumentation from a typical rock ensemble, and the recording is generally clean—only the loud cymbal crashes red-line into transistor distortion.  Side B features Esh rambling solo through instrumental guitar passages and solo vocal/spoken word excursions.  While the liner notes claim to be part of a comedy album, his use of language remains as odd as in the rock songs.  The packaging of some copies, including mine, contains some handmade parts, like a glued-on photograph and hand-coloring on the insert.

Alex Neilson & Richard Youngs, Electric Lotus (side A)

While Richard Youngs's work is incredibly diverse, it tends to lean toward introspection and self-effacing tendencies.  The LP of 2007's Electric Lotus is extroverted and brash.  It feels almost like a sequel to Snyder and Thompson's 1973 classic Daily Dance, with heavy guitars and continuously propulsive drums.  The guitars infrequently form layers—it's hard to tell if overdubs were used, but my best guess is just a looping pedal.  Everything sounds primitive and clean, which is surprising when many of Youngs's albums draw attention to their lo-fi construction.  Side A features several shorter pieces, while one track fills all of side B.  The hastily drawn cartoon on the cover hints at the chaos inside, but in some ways it would fit better with one of Youngs's more primitive constructions.  The album came with a bonus CD of shakuhachi / drum duets, but I bought my copy used and it was missing the bonus disc.