Bill Orcutt - How The Thing Sings

Bill Orcutt - How The Thing Sings (Editions Mego)

This time I am record reviewing Bill Orcutt's new release How the Thing Sings which is another CD sent to me by Ed from Dense.de. Bill Orcutt is a strange guitar player who used to be in a noisy rock band called Harry Pussy (see very good and very noisy video below) where he played electric guitar but now he makes music on his own with an acoustic guitar. 

          The CD starts off very loud which is strange for an acoustic guitar and the playing is a bit weird too. I think Bill Orcutt must be a very strange man but that's okay because it's alright to be a bit different and at least he doesn't sound like anybody else. In an interview in the magazine The Wire that my friend Arlo showed me Bill Orcutt says that he is trying to play his own type of blues music so me and Arlo listened to some blues music together from the 1930's by Charlie Patton and I suppose it does sound similar except Charlie Patton has more vocals in it and is less wild. Charlie Patton I think was a very good blues singer and I'd like to hear more early blues music.
          The next song is called The Visible Bosom which is a funny title for a song and made me laugh, it is a bit calmer than the first track and you can make out what he is doing a bit more. There are also vocals on this one which sound a bit like a baby crying for some milk or a dog whimpering; this made me laugh too, it is a very fun track.
           After The Visible Bosom is a song called Lost They Book which probably means Lost A Book because Lost They Book doesn't make much sense. This one is another quieter one and is quite nice but does have some noisier bits.  How The Thing Sings is the next song and this one starts off softly too but then it starts off properly with louder, faster guitar and groaning in the background like someone who is hungry, there is a bit near the end where the guitar sounds a bit like water dripping which I liked a lot. I think Bill Orcutt plays very well and I wish I could play guitar like him but I think it would be very hard to play like this and I've never tried to play guitar anyway so I probably wouldn't be any good at it.
           Till I Get Satisfied is next and is more strange guitar playing with lots of groaning and other funny voices. I think it's very interesting how he makes his acoustic guitar sound like an electric guitar and how he just groans and doesn't sing any words, this reminds me a bit of Alfie and Bogdan and Wayne who I live with because they don't talk much either and make funny noises sometimes - It doesn't matter that they can't talk, they were born that way and that's all there is to it, they are still very nice guys.
             The next track is another quiet one called Heaven is Closed to Me which is an interesting title. I don't think much of this title because I think Heaven is open to everybody and that everybody will get to go to Heaven except for those who go to Hell - I suppose the Devil might send me to Hell which I think would be horrible so I hope he won't. I don't know much about religion though so I'll just see what happens when I die. I hope Bill Orcutt does get to go to Heaven.
             After this is the last song which is called A Line from Ol' Man River. Ol' Man River is an old song that was sung by Paul Robeson years back before I was born. I don't think this track sounds much like Ol' Man River but it is still very good. It is a very long song which is both noisy and quiet and fast and slow and has vocals that sound a bit like a woman singing but not really.
              Overall I would say I liked this CD very much because it is very strange and interesting and good to listen to. I think Bill Orcutt is a very good guitar player and I think people would like him if they listened to him. I would give this CD 10 out of 10.