by David Keenan, THE WIRE

Margorani is an Italian guitarist and improvisor who was previously active  as part of Rock In Opposition affiliates La1919. My Favorite Strings collates a series of mail collaborations with a galaxy of guitarists including Derek Bailey, Eugene Chadbourne, Elliott Sharp, Davey Williams

And Henry Kaiser. Margorani isn’t the most adventurus of improvisers, more interested in conciliatory strategies and rationalising his partners’ contributions than engaging in face-offs

And playing on the differences. Mostly, then, this is a polite run of complementary interactions.

His approach pays off best on the track with Bailey; Margorani doesn’t even attempt to engage with him on his own terms, opting instead to blanket his nude acoustic runs with a wash of eternally peaking electric guitar: It’s oddly satisfying, though not especially informative to hear Bailey 

In such rich tonal surroundings. Elsewhere things are a little more predictable, with Margorani eager to please all comers, loosin frog croacks at Chadbourne and shadowing Elliott Sharp with

 Luciano plays acoustic and electric guitars, samples, loops, zurna (double reed?) and assorted objects. What he has done is take 14 solo guitar or bass improvisations from each of the players involved, sent through the mail and then reconstruct pieces by adding or layering his own playing or processing. The pieces were recorded over four years (1999-2003), except for the Derek Bailey improv that came from 1991. Luciano does a fabulous job of framing or placing each solo within a structure of some sort by adding a bass line, rhythm sample and/or snippets/solo of other guitar parts. In many ways this sounds like a great solo effort, since the pieces are so focused and seamlessly connected, but never too busy or dense. A number of these guitarists, including Luciano himself, sound influenced by Fred Frith, so Fred's older sustain tone hovers like a great smiling ghost above the rest of the collection. Speaking of Fred Frith, Luciano covers an incredibly rare Henry Cow (Fred's old band) song called "Would You Prefer Us to Lie?", which was never officially released by the band, as a bonus track and it is done with taste and care. A few of these tracks feature some melting, warped guitars, but never go on for too long after they've established a thoughtful mood or setting. Very well done throughout and certainly a must for all experimental guitar fan-addicts. Check out the review in the Wire, if you require further proof.