Stuart McCallum/Mike Walker - The Space Between album review: Guitar-driven banality

A new duo recording from Manchester guitarists Stuart McCallum and Mike Walker is either a flawless example of the guitarists' art or an exercise in elevator music banality coming soon to a wildlife documentary near you.

Actually, it’s a bit of both. Civilian ears will hear some perfectly lovely Americana, passed between two guitarists, with occasional interjections from a string quartet and electronics. Guitar aficionados will hear two supremely gifted six-stringers, not afraid to flirt with banality and wholesome tonalities to get to the good stuff.

Pat Metheny is the master of that particular art, and McCallum and Walker between them nail the Metheny formula, the former with his big, ringing acoustic sound, the latter with soaring, uplifting solos. editionrecords.com