Every once in a while you catch a rock band live and you wonder at what point you were standing around in your underwear.
You can't say definitively that you were “caught” with your pants down because you're pretty sure they were up when the band started playing. That detail seems moot though, because there you are, standing in front of everyone with your jeans at your ankles, wondering how you've gotten this far in life with that belt snugly around your hips.
Guardian Alien is an extension of Greg Fox's solo project, GDFX, or at least it began that way, as Fox sought to collaborate with others more frequently, a conceit that metastasized into the recording in this post, pulled from a WFMU session that involved a seven-piece, including Japan banjo, synth, sax, violin.
Last week when I caught myself in a compromising position post-Guardian Alien set at the Cake Shop, the lineup included two female vocalists caterwauling in unison to a key and frequency they discovered themselves, and the result, back-dropped (knee-kicked?) to the unremitting assault of Greg Fox's instrumental ensemble (he behind drums and samplers), paired with Grasshopper (double trumpets/effects), ended up being my favorite live performance since that time Butthole Surfers did that one-off time-traveling collaboration with Lightning Bolt.
GDFX becomes Guardian Alien (excerpt from Track 2)
Download the whole WFMU session here.
