Ghost In The House - Second Sight CD

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(Disaster Amnesiac) Not to take anything away from the two discs preceding this one, but Ghost In The House's Second Sight is definitely the most juicily varied of the shipment. This group plays out fairly often, and their lineup is pretty stable. Thus, their sound is that of a working band. Disaster Amnesiac has seen them a few times, but can't recall Kyle Bruckmann hitting with them. He brings really great oboe and English horn classicism feels to tracks such as Low and Metal Land Miniatures. These tones contrast the metallic inventions from Tom Nunn and the prodigious gongs of Karen Stackpole. David Michalak joins it all together with stringed accents. This quartet's interactions are subtle but not pensive; one gets the impression that they're playing with and listening to each other. Not always the case in Improvised Music, but Ghost In The House nail that dynamic. Guest appearances from Dean Santomieri with his compelling elocution on The Dream Machine (along with Polly Moller), Dockside Discovery and the really funny The Bats (are hanging upside down), John Ingle's alto sax on Innocence Walks a Dark Path, Cindy Webster on saw, and Bart Hopkin on rumba box thicken the sweet and sour sonic pho of Second Sight. I used to know a guy who'd say about a still-developing band, "it ain't soup yet"; Ghost In The House have gone beyond all that. This group is the stock that some others are basing their stuff upon. - Mark Pino

(Vital Weekly) Ghost In The House is Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn), Tom Nunn (inventions), David Michalak (lap steel) and Karen Stackpole (gongs). Helped out by John Ingle (alto sax), Dean Santomieri (voice), Polly Moller (bass flute), Cindy Webster (saw) and Bart Hopkin (rumba box). David Michalak is the initiator behind this project. He is a filmmaker and musician. Since the early 70s he realized many films with original music. In the 90s he started a trio to play live scores to his films. In 2004 he started a new group Ghost in the Machine, exploring “the ethereal and elemental soundscapes where music suggests an image, a kind of picture music”. “I’ve always thought of music as kind of a second sight: a unique way of perceiving the world around us’. Their first release appeared in 2007 for Edgetone. Some ten years later we can welcome their second statement. I listened first to this CD on my way to my first Harry Partch-concert ever performed by the Scordatura ensemble, and was struck by similarities between the two. Like Partch, Ghost in the House uses micro tonality in some parts in their dramatic music. All eight tracks on this album are based on a scenario written by Michalak that is musically interpreted by the band. In most of the tracks this is done instrumentally. On two tracks the story is narrated by the voice of Dean Santomieri. This results in a strange, intriguing multidimensional work. The music is very evocative and narrative, full of spooky and sinister sounds. The metallic sounds generated by Nunns inventions, the gongs and other percussive instruments and objects by Stackpole, make it a very multi-coloured work. And make a nice contrast with the acoustical instruments, especially the oboe played by Bruckmann. Inventive and very weird chamber music it is. Totally convincing. Very original also, in the way Michalak successfully creates pictures - as it were - through his music. - Dolf Mulder