Pumice's Raft

The other night at Pumice's Raft CD release gig, while he was setting up for to play, I was talking to someone - an initiate if you will - who asked me what it was that Pumice 'did'. I had to think about it for a moment and then came up with drifting, shuddering gospel-folk-music.

Upon reflection, that kinda nails it perfectly. It's very interactive; you have to engage with it and when you do, you'll have a hard job to disengage again. Pumice hangs out a big analogue carrot which you follow, transfixed, teetering on the edge of something that you have a vague feeling might be going to be really important.. you're transcending.. pay attention; Pumice is goan take your head a-rambling over those hills over there in his little wheezing broke-ass tape-loop and concertina-powered flying machine.

Raft has all the essence of Pumice live, distilled through an 8-track recorder onto a CD-sized listening session. Pumice has worked very hard and very carefully for quite a long time to make some good Pumice here; the good news is he's pulled it off. For the sake of reference: it recalls the absolute glorious best of Alistair Galbraith's psych-dirge but tempered with the kind of occasional instrumental dexterity that you might find on a Sun City Girls record. I'm going to go out on a limb by saying that Raft is easily the best thing I've heard by Pumice; it is highly recommended.

[image of Pumice courtesy of Arc Cafe's possibly-slightly-out-of-date Pumice page]