Lemon Fish Tweezer: A History of Henry Kaiser's Solo Guitar Improvisations (1973-1991)

• Artist: Henry Kaiser
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 24, 1992
• Total Time: 74:50
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Rock

Review

Henry Kaiser is responsible, along with his new music co-patriots Derek Bailey, Fred Frith, Eugene Chadbourne, and Glenn Phillips, for expanding the boundaries of guitar playing to a point almost past recognition; it's not at all unusual to hear an entire Henry Kaiser performance that is only vaguely recognizable as coming from a guitar. Lemon Fish Tweezer is a compilation of previously released and unreleased solo improvisations that charts Kaiser's career from his earliest experiments as a neophyte in 1973 to improvisations on Klein and Modulus MIDI guitars in the 1980s and 1990s. Although the music is almost never tonal or even melodic in any meaningful sense, it's almost always beautiful: "Aquirax Aida" is a gentle and sparklingly lovely exploration of bent harmonics, "It's a Wonderful Life" uses echo, distortion, and feedback in surprisingly attractive ways, and "The Nutmeg of Consolation" shows the deep influence of traditional Korean music on his playing. The MIDI tracks aren't always successful; "Red Shadows" sounds like someone messing around aimlessly on the keys of a Casio keyboard, for instance. But using the guitar as a MIDI driver for a drum machine ("Tribute to John French") was a great idea. The program ends with a strangely whimsical and utterly heartbreaking spoken-word and acoustic guitar piece entitled "Meet the Flintstones." Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Get Moose and Squirrel		Henry Kaiser	(2:35)
Red Shadows [#]		Henry Kaiser	(1:51)
Aquirax Aida	Henry Kaiser	Henry Kaiser	(4:16)
Novelty Act [#]		Henry Kaiser	(6:34)
What the Dead Men Say	Henry Kaiser	Henry Kaiser	(2:34)
Tribute to John French [#]		Henry Kaiser	(1:30)
Kaiju Babylon [#]		Henry Kaiser	(4:07)
It's a Wonderful Life	Henry Kaiser	Henry Kaiser	(24:19)
Out, Taco Sauce		Henry Kaiser	(2:11)
Albondigas -- Message from Space		Henry Kaiser	(1:07)
Moonlight Mask [#]		Henry Kaiser	(1:28)
Null and Void [#]		Henry Kaiser	(5:10)
Bright Promises, Dismal Performance [#]		Henry Kaiser	(1:57)
Visions of a New Age [#]		Henry Kaiser	(1:25)
The Nutmeg of Consolation [#]		Henry Kaiser	(1:28)
Information Mechanics	Henry Kaiser	Henry Kaiser	(6:11)
(Meet) The Flintstones	Henry Kaiser	Henry Kaiser	(7:00)

Credits

Kazunobu Yanagi (Photography), Richard Thompson (Cover Design), Henry Kaiser (Bass), Henry Kaiser (Fender Stratocaster), Henry Kaiser (Guitar (Electric)), Henry Kaiser (Guitar (Acoustic)), Henry Kaiser (Liner Notes), Hans Roth (Photography), Henry Kaiser (Guitar), Henry Kaiser (Fender Telecaster), Henry Kaiser (Engineer), Henry Kaiser (MIDI Guitar), Richard Thompson (Cover Design), Henry Kaiser (Producer), Richard Thompson (Artwork), Henry Kaiser (Guitar (Baritone)), Henry Kaiser (Guitar (Bass)), David B. Greenberger (Package Design), David B. Greenberger (Cover Design)