released August 26, 2014

...Dorji’s sporadic guitar din, only mellowed by Meadow’s jazzy bass. (I hesitate to say jazzy because a stand up bass providing rhythm to dissonant guitar can do more and I know this, but what else to call something that grooves so well and can handle improvisational fits?). Dorji’s best when he finds some plucky rhythm of his own, re-imagining the guitar as some foreign form of percussion instrument; Meadows is equally adapt at turning his rhythmic bass into a lead instrument, paving the way toward a new sound idea. Both compliment each other well, transitioning into the necessary role to create artistic bawls. Dorji is a rising star and Number Six is Sacred is further proof of his gift, but please take Frank Meadows with as you ascend to the Olympus. The screw has since been used to affix the walkman permanently shut.
-Justin Spicer, Tiny Mix Tapes

Tashi Dorji’s guitar style is a beautifully warped vision of the possibilities of six strings – sharing kinship with Derek Bailey and Bill Orcutt, but vibrantly idiosyncratic and glorious to take in. On Number Six is Sacred, a recent cassette for Columbus, OH-based cassette label Cabin Floor Esoterica, Dorji teams with double bassist Frank Meadows for an inventive, exploratory session.

There’s no real beginning or end to the pieces presented to listeners on Number Six. Did Dorji start this idea, Meadows, or did that start together, with only a breath to count them in? Is there a secret, compositional logic to meetings like this, or am I only privy to the dialectical questioning of borders? Moments of calm, plucking bass soothe my worrying, but the confusion always resumes, sometimes in a walking, traditional feel, other times deep in the improv ether.
-Matthew McBride, The Boston Hassle

Here, Dorji has paired up with bassist Frank Meadows for Number Six is Sacred – a frenetic collection of works that has the two “locked in” on a focused improvisational space that’s equal parts tension, release, and insane. Frank Meadows’ bow-sweeps and prepared fretwork help ground Dorji’s fierce runs and bursts; their movements diverge and reunite according to an unknowable psychic framework. Frank’s literally my boy and helped organize the Hopscotch TMT day party; so, I’m not gonna flatter him too much here :). But, jeez, they are some advanced players – they’re way beyond just proving they can sling out some acrobatic licks. Instead, they choose to focus on the materiality of their instruments, pushing their personal, idiosyncratic tendencies into an objectification of the potential freedoms accessible through a focused, instrumental process. It’s an abstract listen, one I’ll be using to craft potential mental narratives into autumn.
- Chocolate Grinder, Tiny Mix Tapes


www.cabin-floor-esoterica.com/p/available.html