The Stroke that Kills

Seth Josel, electric guitar, electric bass Over the past twenty-plus years, Seth Josel has established himself as a leader in helping to shape the electric guitar's burgeoning future as a "classical" instrument. This album is a statement not only of his artistry as a performer, but also as a curator of new music for the guitar. The six pieces on this recording demonstrate a variety of means and approaches spanning the reified electric flamenco of David Dramm to the sound-art abstractions of Gustavo Matamoros. David Dramm's (b 1961) The Stroke That Kills (1993) is rooted in the fierce rhythmic strumming of the flamenco style, but its translation to the electric guitar propels the music to a harder, more vicious place. Michael Fiday's (b 1961) Slapback (1997) is inspired by a live recording of The Who in which the guitarist Pete Townsend plays a duet with himself as his sound echoes off the arena wall. In Slapback, the guitar performance, heard in the right stereo channel, is repeate