Don't Blame Me

by Brian BeattyA stark import album of solo jazz guitar as only Marc Ribot would think to play it. Some songs sound purely accidental (the original "Noise #1" and Albert Ayler's "Ghost"), while others reveal less-familiar sweet and haunted sides of the guitarist's playing style (Duke Ellington's "Solitude" and Charlie Haden's "Song for Che"). Though probably a must-have for completists and ardent fans of New York City's downtown avant-garde, Don't Blame Me isn't the place for the uninitiated to begin. For the undaunted, the easiest way of purchasing this hard-to-find album is probably directly from the guitarist's Internet site.