The Joy Of Molybdenum - Trey Gunn Band (2000)

The Chapman Stick is a difficult instrument, but apparently not difficult enough for Trey Gunn. He plays a custom-made “Touch Guitar” mostly on his solo records, although he’s still credited with Stick on some of the King Crimson records he’s on.

Gunn was originally a student of KC mastermind Robert Fripp, but by the turn of the century he’d grown entirely into his own. This album has a lot of similar twists and turns to Crim, but also adds Gunn’s own melodicism, making music that goes hard but still gives you a lot of musicality.

The rest of his band is a drummer and a guitarist, and Gunn fills in the rest. He plays basslines, leads, and even some of the rhythms the way he attacks his strings percussively.

It’s a great album that I’d kind of forgotten about.