Since 2000, New Zealand-based experimental guitarist
Roy Montgomery has been far less prolific than he was in the '90s, having dedicated far more of his time to non-musical pursuits such as his career as a professor at Lincoln University. Aside from soundtrack work and limited split LPs with
Grouper and
the Dead C's
Bruce Russell,
R M H Q: Headquarters is
Montgomery's first major solo work since 2000's
The Allegory of Hearing and its companion album, 2001's
Silver Wheel of Prayer. The project is a sprawling four-disc behemoth, with each album inhabiting a particular mindset and having a distinct theme.
H: Bender is the most cinematic disc in the set, conjuring up images of drunken nights staring up at the stars in the wild, wild West. The tracks combine spaghetti Western twang with
Cocteau Twins-worthy drift, with an extra dose of eeriness on numbers like "Pipeline."
Montgomery plugs the drum machine in for the trippy "Cocktails with Can." ~ Paul Simpson