American-born, Vienna-based guitarist Eric Arn has been around for decades, collaborating with numerous musicians, including Tom Carter and Eyal Maoz, across various genres, including free improv, experimental, drone, and rock. Although Eric has played both acoustic and electric guitar for decades, his acoustic output is minimal (his debut solo album, 2013’s Points of Fissure, is acoustic guitar, but played with extended techniques and effects), with 2021’s Higher Order being the most well-known and fixe Idee being the follow-up.
Like on Higher Order, Eric puts the mostly unadorned acoustic through its paces here, exploring both improvised techniques and seemingly more composed pieces, like the bucolic Sunrills. Throughout this one, there are hints of early Robbie Basho, with a loose and free style of playing conjuring an image of carefree, sepia-toned summer life.
Opener Impromptu pour le Fantôme is far longer, at over ten minutes, and spends its runtime flirting with many ideas, beginning in a pastoral mood and switching to a more skittish, experimental style as the piece develops. The music is quite excitable here and jumps around freely, giving the impression of a more improvised approach. The playing, although complex and dense in places, has the odd imperfection and, like Sunrills, a sense of looseness that is appealing and gives the sound a more organic character.
Moving forward, things do get weird, which is totally fine by me. Take Ewigkeitsgasse as an example; a slightly bonkers slide piece that sounds like it has been recorded with something stuck in the strings, giving the notes an elastic quality, all in a very small chamber (you can hear breathing in places). The overall effect is quite off the wall, but also a lot of fun. Similar in its experimental character is Rhyolite, a piece that combines slide notes with clanging picked strings, all sounding very ramshackle and almost cartoony. Great stuff.
Gutbucket heads in a more bluesy direction, albeit still in a more fragmented, avant-garde style, but with an underlying rhythm that gives this one the feeling of movie chase music. In some ways, it reminded me of a more intense version of Marc Ribot’s ace live performance of Fat Man Blues, played on his ancient Gibson acoustic. Again, the somewhat burred nature of the music is a big strength.
This full, eclectic set is a lot of fun and invites comparisons to existing players (Derek Bailey will undoubtedly be mentioned). Still, it is the sound of an accomplished guitarist playing in his own style(s), and the result is excellent: singular, exciting and adventurous.
fixe Idee (May 23rd, 2025) Carbon Records CR291 / Feeding Tube Records (FTR802)
Bandcamp: https://ericarn.bandcamp.com/album/fixe-idee