Music for the Sherman Box Series and Other Works is a bit of an anomaly in Pat Gubler's discography. Stylistically rather far removed from the pastoral alt-folk of earlier albums like
Parlor Tricks and Porch Favorites, this is a collection of loosely structured instrumental improvisations. Tracks one through seven were composed as the musical accompaniment for a summer 2005 exhibition of miniature multimedia collages (constructed in re-purposed Nat Sherman cigarette boxes, hence the name) by New Jersey visual artist Christine Krol. Titled simply by the instruments and effects used -- "#1 for Wire-Strung Harp with Echo," "#7 for Bray Harp with Echo and Flanged Reverb," etc. -- these seven brief pieces, all in the three- to five-minute range, are melody-free explorations of drones, overtones, and harmonics performed on the Celtic wire-strung harp and a relatively obscure early-music instrument called the bray harp that has a sort of built-in primitive fuzzbox. The effects are lovely, as suitable for alpha wave-inducing close listening as for background ambience, but even more so than with other works in the style: don't even think of driving or operating heavy machinery while listening. The other works in the title are a pair of 1995 compositions, one previously unreleased. The 12-minute epic "The Book of Rayguns for 6 Electric Guitars" was originally released on both sides of
P.G. Six's debut single; this reworked version sounds like
Glenn Branca recording a lullaby for the old Darla Records Bliss Out series of drifting space rock reveries. The brief "Cartographies for Piano and Electronics" ends the album on a gentle
Brian Eno meets Erik Satie note. Anyone expecting
P.G. Six's usual skewed folk might be somewhat disappointed, but as contemporary ambient music goes,
Music for the Sherman Box Series and Other Works is inventive and endearing. ~ Stewart Mason