Known equally as a guitarist and instrument inventor -- roles that, in his case, tend to compliment one another -- Germany's Hans Reichel has carved out a quiet niche for himself in the world of European avant-garde improvisation.
He stands out among his contemporaries not only due to his unusual guitar-like inventions -- which feature frets, pickups, or microphones in non-traditional places -- but also due to his actual playing style, which is often surprisingly melodic and folk-like (not to mention good-natured and unpretentious) for someone primarily associated with the avant-garde.
On the other hand, he has also created some truly bizarre (and most definitely not folk-like) music over the years. For example, his various work with the daxophone, a bowed wooden plank that he invented which emits some almost unbelievably animalistic creaks and groans.
