Carbon Records
Nearly four years to the date after the release of Higher Order, Eric Arn’s previous release for Carbon Records, we are releasing his latest collection of guitar excursions.
The songs on fixe Idee have a rolling, rambling guitar feel that builds sonic lattices which drift in the air like steel spiderwebs in the summer sky. The record opens with the American Primitive-esque storytelling saga Impromptu pour le fantôme, setting the stage for a nice variety of playing and recording styles to follow. The more pastoral tracks Sunrills and Gutbucket are nicely interspersed with the more raw, lo-fi slide-based joints Rhyolite and Ewigkeitsgasse, each with variations of tipsy tones dancing off the edge of the fretboard to bathe in a swirling concoction of acoustic fantasia.
Fixe Idee finally moves back into the Primitive landscape with the raag Melathys, then the closer, the perfectly titled Bear, completely unraveled starts with more spastic and experimental Derek Bailey leanings, then eventually settles into more rhythmic patterns, and an exhaling finale.
This is a record made by someone whose passion for the guitar as a physical instrument creating sound for enjoyment, and as a catalyst for getting right with the Universe, is deeply evident.
Releases May 23, 2025
Recorded in Vienna 2019-2023 by Roy F Culbertson III
in the Grotto (on a Revox A77), and by Eric at home
and at Kunstraum Ewigkeitsgasse
Mastered by James Plotkin
Front illustration by Andy Gilmore - instagram.com/a__gilmore
Photo of Eric by Guillermo Tellechea, artoutput.at
Photo of Jenny’s monkey by Eric
Promo video by Leo Tunis
