Steve Touchton and Evan Backer-"03142009" and "04182009" tape

I picked this one up after reading Byron Coley's review of it in the Wire, in which he compared it to the work of Doug Snyder and Bob Thompson.
Happily, these two players do seem to dance together in much the same way that the early 1970's Ohioans did, locking guitar and drums parts within an improvised setting.
Touchton's guitar sound often reminds me of Sharrock at its most unadorned (i.e.guitar to amp without pedals). At other points, his sound makes me think of Wire or other post-Punk bands, filtered through a Free Jazz envelope.
Backer's approach to the kit is sometimes note-dense and busy, sometimes sparse, always very responsive to the moves that Touchton makes with his ax. At one point, given a space of  total silence from Touchton, he starts to quote Han Bennink's great Nerve Beats concept!
The format of this release (two short tunes on a short tape) and its bare bones packaging, give it an endearing d.i.y. feel. The tunes' brevity makes it very approachable. I've often thought that improvised and noise music are rapidly becoming truly Folk mediums, and this tape fits very nicely into that concept.