EVAN MILLER “Three Spells For Six String Guitar” (Night People)

Raccoo-oo-oon cohort and overt Fahey fetishist Evan Miller’s first tape for Night People is exactly what it says it is: three finger-picked acoustic guitar instrumentals. The A side jam (“Spell Against Forgetfulness”) is easily the most hectic of the trinity, revving steadily up from brisk Jack Rose fret-rambling until it’s just the sound of hands slapping against muted strings. On the B, Miller decides to lay his obsessions on the table in plain view. “Fahey Spell” couldn’t be much more obvious, directly copping an old-tymey melody straight from the fountainhead himself…it sounds exactly like a cut off Blind Joe Death. But the last track (“Spell Against Indifference”) is also probably the best, gliding fluidly from melody to melody, pitting the lower drone strings against the flittering high ones in a pitter-patter rhythm that’s both hypnotic and quietly dramatic.