“Pheremones and Incense” (1986) – Andy Bole * Written by Andy Bole * LP: Ramshackle Pier * Label: Left Leg
The British acoustic guitarist Andy Bole released his debut LP Ramshackle Pier in 1986. Listening to it sends you back to what feels like an era of more sprightly fingerstyle sounds, before the Fahey-revival steam engine started making its rounds. Bole is an internationally-minded multi-instrumentalist who would go on to study hansa veena (a type of Indian slide guitar), and he’s also an experimentalist, with certain tracks sounding like his fingers have turned into pencils, or his guitar has been somehow strung up non-linearly. He’s participated in numerous projects past and present, including Bonfire Radicals, Fret and Fiddle, Shankara, and Daevid Allen’s Glissando Guitar Orchestra. This bouzouki track, called “Pheromones and Incense,” appeared as one of three bonus tracks on the 2004 CD reissue of the Ramshackle Pier LP, although the notes don’t indicate whether it’s an outtake or recorded later.