Sarah Lipstate has forged quite the reputation over this past decade. Having begun with Brooklyn art rockers Parts & Labor in 2008, she’s been a member of Rhys Chatham’s celebrated guitar orchestra and has collaborated with such respected leftfield talents as Glenn Branca, Lee Ranaldo, Carla Bozulich and Jim ‘Foetus’ Thirlwell. Then there’s her other calling as an experimental filmmaker, for which she’s already collected an armful of awards.
Both of these pursuits showcase a fascination with the sensory world, further explored in her solo work under the guise of Noveller. A Pink Sunset For No One was recorded in the wake of her recent tour of the US and Europe with major fan Iggy Pop. A thoroughly engrossing thing it is too, Lipstate creating instrumental pieces that – like Robert Fripp or Bill Frisell before her – expand, modify and sharpen the remit of electric guitar. The alluring Deep Shelter is imbued with a strange ambience, as is the unhurried textural delight of Lone Victory Tonight. The Unveiling, a nimble meditation built around a melody from one of her own film scores, is terrific too. Best of all is Rituals, a tribute to Steve Reich, in particular his 70s masterstroke, Music For 18 Musicians, with an elastic central motif.
