I have been working on a project about Southern Californian music; specifically the composers who were associated with Cold Blue Recordings. Cold Blue was founded by Jim Fox. On of the first Cold Blue artists is the composer/guitarist/saxophonist Rick Cox, whose recent album with the film composer Thomas Newman (35 Whirlpools below sound) was one of our favourite new albums of the last fall.
Casting about for sources, I found this interview with Rick on the blog Guitar moderne, in which he explained much about his background and ways of working. Rick Cox is known for his guitar preparations: bulldog clips, and other objects that are attached to, or applied to the guitar strings and pickups. Those of you who are AMM fans will know Keith Rowe’s pioneering work in this area — putting his guitar down on a table and essentially ‘deconstructing’ it as a kind of string electronic instrument. Rick does something similar, only he applies it to the luxurious, languorous Los Angeles musical style. You can see his interview here: http://www.guitarmoderne.com/artists/spotlight-rick-cox .
The Cold Blue site, where you can get the Newman/Cox recording and a host of other fantastic music, is here: http://www.coldbluemusic.com . Upcoming albums include music by Peter Garland, Michael Byron, Daniel Lentz, and Jim Fox himself; recent releases include an album by John Luther Adams. If you like British experimental and minimal music, this LA stuff is definitely worth a look.