CHICAGO READER FEATURES TINY HAIRS IN SPOT CHECK
01/26/2001

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Chicago Reader
26 January 2001

Spot Check: section 3, pg. 6

Tiny Hairs 1/26, Empty Bottle.
The introductory letter this local sextet sent me with their self-released full-length album Tonics, Tinctures, Extracts says,"Tiny Hairs perform improvisational instrumental compositions informed by noise, electronic music, free jazz, rock, and 20th-century classical music." Yeah, well, who doesn't these days? Some bands have an uncanny knack for reducing this exhilarating sea of possibilities to a dried up, carefully footnoted puddle, and Tiny Hairs don't exactly blend their influences in unusual proportions. But the long, graceful unfolding of the three dark, moody pieces on the disc admits presence of groove, compulsion, and epiphany -- these guys are willing to ramble about until the larger structure reveals itself, in a moment they seem to share with the listener.

- Monica Kendrick

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