Fed Up With Bass was somewhat conceived as a pandemic project. During lockdown, legendary improv guitarist Eugene Chadbourne was recording daily-ish solo guitar pieces and sharing them online, while encouraging other artists to utilize them in an asynchronous collaborative setting. Bassist/electronic artist Jair-Röhm Parker Wells, whom Chadbourne had worked with in person previously, was a prolific collaborator, and this sprawling album is a document of these combined performances: a mix of sounds and styles that is as dizzying as it is fascinating.
Admittedly, this is a daunting album. Clocking in at two CDs, 32 songs, and over two and a half hours in length, there is a lot here. Compounding this is the fact that the songs are crossfaded with each other, making it difficult to just listen to a few songs at a time given that it feels more like a singular performance. Even with that density of music, the duo switch things up frequently, moving from overt acoustic guitar and upright bass to layers of electronics and processed sounds, albeit with Chadbourne’s guitar distinct in the mix.
Fed Up With Bass unsurprisingly does not present the artists sticking within the bounds of one style, although Chadbourne’s folk inclinations make for a somewhat consistent thread throughout. A piece such as "Zeppocalypse" is the duo at their most sparse: acoustic guitar, upright bass, and some knocking pseudo-percussion fleshes out the mix. At times, the two are seemingly going in very different directions such as the rapidly plucked, highly unstable guitar of "Winter" and "Young Women" that is rooted by a rigid, highly structured bass performance.
Of course, dabbling in other styles is par for the course on Fed Up With Bass. "Birthday Card for Joe McPhee" has Parker Wells going dubby with the bass, as the tight guitar strings resonate, making for a somewhat chill vibe, but not overly relaxing. For "Loch Listen," the duo lean into jazz-tinged, almost jaunty playing mixed with some unique percussion throughout. "Inner Extremities Suite Part 3" has the pair blending rapid, almost bluegrass like guitar work with found sounds and rhythms, going full bore into the world of free improvisation.
The pieces where Parker Wells implements more electronic instrumentation are the ones that drew me in most. The gurgling electronic ambience of "Afternoon of a Used Book Dealer" is a great pairing with the hard panned string plucks and layered, spectral passages, resulting in a compelling sense of ambience. "Lo and Behold 10th Anniversary" nicely juxtaposes a very live, "in the room" feel to the guitar and bass, but with swirling synths and what sounds like electronic interference threaded throughout. With "Jack Valentine Monster Truck," the electronics are high up in the mix, and with a greater use of effects and treatments, the depth is extremely engaging. "Joseph Spence’s Underwear" has the two take this even further, with Chadbourne going electric for parts of it, and additional electronics mixing with the distorted riffs and other random bits of sound passing through. Chaotic, yet extremely enjoyable.
There is a lot to appreciate on Fed Up With Bass, and I do mean a lot. Besides the duration of the album, there is a metaphorical "everything and the kitchen sink" sensibility throughout. Personally, I was only able to do one disc at a time, with the length and occasional whiplash jerking from style to style within the span of short, crossfaded songs. But taken as two independent albums, this set is wonderful and varied. I imagine those who have the gumption to marathon the whole thing at once will feel very rewarded by the time the extremely-abrupt ending is reached.
