Manuel Mota from Lisbon Portugal here with a fine set of electric guitar solo works. Simply titled 1-7 (HEADLIGHTS CDH40), this one arrives with no conceptual baggage or ideological agenda, nothing to decode, just seven instances of glorious distorted guitar blammery. Amplifiers have been dipped in epoxy resin and old effect pedals run on fading battery power, or so it might appear. Impressive the way Mota manages to make his high-register notes (very plaintive cries of alien birds from beneath the sea) float and dance above a sub-strata of rubbly noise. Keiji Haino in miniature, most of these instrumentals no longer than five mins apiece. Great desolate cover photo too. We’ve mostly heard Mota in a collaborative setting, e.g. with fellow countrymen David Maranha or Rafael Toral, so it’s fantastic to enjoy this strong solo outing. (06/01/2025)
