Ian Bouras

Ian Bouras splits his latest release, a live DVD entitled A Chipmunk’s Interpretation of Space, into six parts. Each of the six selections centers on Bouras’ technique of looping his guitar work – a technique where, via a pedal built for that purpose, an initial framework is recorded that can be played back in a loop while the guitarist “overdubs” new sections on top of that framework to create a larger compositional canvas. Bouras is not a newcomer to this technique. He has employed it to great effect on a number of releases in recent years, but it is my belief that this latest release represents the pinnacle of his achievements thus far using this method. He is able to revisit this method time after time and mine new material from it because of his restless creativity. This is evident throughout the whole of A Chipmunk’s Interpretation of Space. 

NUMBER ONE MUSIC: https://www.numberonemusic.com/iancbouras 

Part 1 shows a more melodic side to Bouras’ playing, but nevertheless illustrates how he uses multiple tools to achieve the effects he’s looking for. He plays sans pick and his artistry using fingers alone is a testament to his feeling for the guitar as an instrument and the vast amount of time he has put into refining his approach. He makes uses of a glass slide, glass wind chimes attached to the guitar’s head stock, and other tools to draw recognizable and sometime improbable sounds from his two humbucker pickup guitar. Bouras drapes effects over his guitar, this is true, but they never strike me as unnecessary or self-indulgent gloss covering up a lack of depth. Instead, they enhance the impact of each composition. The painterly way he builds each of the six parts becomes more apparent as A Chipmunk’s Interpretation of Space continues. 

What I mean by painterly is that Bouras accomplishes much through a slow stacking of sonic details. He begins each of the six parts with a baseline musical theme and then augments it with different colors through the piece. Part 2 reinforces this idea. It begins in an atmospheric manner before turning, some ways into the song, towards more melodic ideas. Part 4 operates along similar lines. It features his most overt use of slide yet on the release, it begins the track, but there isn’t as clear of a demarcation between his expansive atmospherics and melodic gifts as I hear during the second part of the release. 

 PURCHASE LINK: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/iancbouras6 

The penultimate track on A Chipmunk’s Interpretation of Space, Part 5, shows off his inventiveness once again as he opens the performance lightly slapping his fret board at various points to create a percussive effect, adds a little tapping, and even scratches the strings to create his initial loop. I associate the more formal setting of Parts 2, 4, and 5 with a more experimental bent than we hear in Parts 1, 3, and 6. The balance defining this release is inescapable and essential to its success. Ian Bouras’ latest release shows he is far from exhausting the possibilities of guitar looping and I believe will be a rewarding experience for anyone who takes the time to appreciate its riches.

 **********

Trace Whittaker

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

10/2019