In the late nineties, Bill Groot and Brent Gutzeit founded BOXmedia and focused on releasing albums from Chicago's experimental and improv music scenes. Gutzeit had been a presence in the scene for a few years but started performing in Kalamazoo as a student at Western Michigan, playing with his college friend Thomas Deater. Thomas Deater self-released his debut album Linkage in 1992 on his own Gentle Giant Records.
The first three songs each uniquely set the tone for the cassette. The first "Violins" is Deater on guitar that's then run through tape manipulation (speed changes, reversing) to evoke the sonic feel of the title instrument. The second,"Ugly Bell Suite," is a live performance with Blaine Townsend also on guitar and Gutzeit on instruments of his own making (credited as "woodstrings" and "metalstrings" by Deater.) The song's title also evokes another instrument to the same effect, achieved this time through Gutzeit's arhythmic percussion and controlled noise. The third song, "Linkage," is a post-rock improvisation with another guitarist Kirk Decker. All three songs produce a common ambient sound despite the differences in means, and all three means of production end up being layered to different effects on the rest of the album in addition to finding a greater structure through more rhythmic foundations.
The album is available for purchase here. Special thanks to Brent Gutzeit for his generosity in sharing these albums and answering my questions.
Here is the discography surrounding Thomas Deater's debut album:
Linkage
Linkage (2018 album re-release by JMY)
"Linkage" by Thomas Deater
"Ugly Bell Suite" by Thomas Deater
Pass the Headphones!!
