Label: Alga Marghen

ニュージーランドにてギタリスト兼画家として活動、多くのバンド及びユニットに参加、90年代中期には主に即興演奏を収録した限定20~30部のレースカット盤を残し続けた奇才Donald McPherson。秋山徹次氏とも共演していた人物で、本作はオリジナルの入手は困難とされる1994年1st12インチ[Some Songs]に、1995年レースカット7インチ[Decap]、1996年[The Trees]を追加収録した充実の編集再発版。まるで自己破壊を提示する様なぼやけたローファイ記録が多く、叙情的フォーク、骨抜きなポップソングが雑音を伴い駆け抜ける、ひしゃげた面白DIY記録。200部限定。





Edition limited to 200 copies, red vinyl, includes extra tracks taken from "Decap" (1995) and "The Trees" (1996) 7” lathe editions. "The first time I heard anything about Donald McPherson was when my friend David Muir told me excitedly about this guitarist from Ravensbourne who could play really beautifully properly but also just as wonderfully wrongly. I first heard him playing a rare live performance in Dunedin in about 1997. It remains one of the most heavily self-deprecating sets Iive ever seen. Abandoning songs halfway through, Donald couldn’t contain his belief that his efforts were worthless & that he hadn’t practiced as much as we were idiots for listening. He made a good show of appearing not to care but the quality of the few pieces of music he did play showed a personality and idiosyncratic natural ability that could only come from the most meaningful places. And he was totally right… we were idiots tolerating any old shit, just as he was an idiot for being so ridiculously good. Donald is most well known for the free range guitar instrumentals of his "Bramble" CD (Metonymic) and the "Vinegar & Rum" (Bo Weavil) collaboration with Tetuzi Akiyama, but its his 1994 album "Some Songs" (self-released in a edition of 20 Lathe-Cut LPs) that his friends & fans hold in the highest regard.
It sparkles with beauty, wit and wonder and it crumbles under its own self-sabotaging cynicism. Lyrical flowing folk melodies with playful irritations and grafted on textures, Bare boned hyper sensitive pop songs and scrambled spontaneous sketches. Donald always sounds to me like he is resisting his talents as they are too embarrassing, but at the same time embracing the chance to express everything he is feeling no matter how awkward or humiliating it may be. It seems like such a crippling difficult perspective to create from but “Some Songs” always sounds playful, honest, humble and hopeful to me! " Stefan Neville