When he‘s not writing or recording, Baba Stiltz immerses in fearless fiction by the likes of DenisJohnson and Dodie Bellamy; prose where pedestrian details become transcendent in aggregate andthe inner lives of marginal characters are examined as though they were kings. A similar thesis runsthrough „Paid Testimony“, the essential second tape of minimalist guitar music from the FilipinoAmerican-Swedish artist. In recent years, Stiltz has made like Lee Hazelwood‘s Cowboy In Sweden in reverse, making annual pilgrimages from Stockholm to California and reconnecting with his roots via a guitar and a Fostex 4-track. He‘s drawn to the less glamorous corners of the golden state, an observant habitué of unkempt streets and dive bars stretching from LA to Vacaville. It‘s a long stretch from the jetset techno clubs where Baba originally plied his musical trade, but it‘s where he finds characters and ideas worthwriting about.