Bad Reviews

This isn't quite the kind of thing David Grisman or John Fahey does, but I suspect they have cornered what little market there is for this whole realm of, uh, whatever one calls it. Almost entirely acoustic, Steve Tibbetts' music flirts with jazz and with whimsey and is vaguely programmatic. He toys with percussive effects more than the others in this realm do. But "Yr" really needs a movie or something to go with it -- maybe one of those TV-screen light shows they can do with computers. Otherwise, it just doesn't seem relevant to much of the known world.
Stereo Review

This LP was recorded in St. Paul, but it sounds as if Tibbetts cut the songs on a mountaintop in Nepal. A cosmic hodgepodge of tablas, rock guitars, spacy synthesizers, delicate acoustic work and the odd electronic effects, this melange of pretty meanderings and astral doodlings succeeds as pleasant background music, but lacks the cohesive musical structure necessary to hold a listener's primary attention.
Billboard

I hoped this album of folk/jazz guitar sounds and ideas would reveal why Tibbetts is held in such high regard by jazz critics. But "Northern Song" is so mellow and filled with spaces that I forgot I had it on.
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Until I heard Tibbetts do it, I never knew that guitar could hum like my refrigerator. Of course, with the benefit of Manfred Eicher's production know-how, it hums more prettily than my old GE No-Frost, but I'm doubtful if that's enough to make me play the album again. Maybe if they showed me where the ice-maker was...
Musician

In regards to your letter of January 26th, yes we have received the new Steve Tibbets album exploded view. Unfortunately we cannot program the music our regular format due to it's explosiveness. We have a conservative audience and blend about 60% mainstream jazz with 40%...
KINK FM