Chewing Pine

James Blackshaw – Litany of Echoes (Tompkins Square, 2008)

Litany of Echoes contains a great deal of stunning musicianship. And James Blackshaw, who has released more full lengths in five years than anyone could expect, continues to exhibit his compositional skills. Unfortunately for him, he’s British and listeners should be able to tell pretty quickly. If given a chance, any fan can differentiate between Bert Jansch and Townes Van Zandt. Their respective countries are vocally expressed through music. The same is true of Blackshaw – except his cultural baggage is displayed via his 12-string guitar.

Drawing from 20^th century composers as much as other guitarists won’t make ones recordings effete, but being more indebted to Windham Hill than Takoma will. Litany does strive to repeat motifs, but only to serve the compositional entirety of the release. It’s just less tied to American blues and folk forms than most would let on – that’s not good or bad, it’s just different than, let’s say Jack Rose.

Again the musicianship, as Blackshaw’s guitar is augmented by various bowed instruments as well as piano, is beyond reproach – not necessarily engaging, but well beyond competent. It seems though that the concepts that spurred Blackshaw into these compositions are as intriguing as the music that it produced.

The cover of Litany is emblazoned with a circular figure endlessly retreating into itself. The image is verbally reflected in the title of not only “Echo and Abyss,” but also in “Infinite Circle.”

Continuing to extend the circular and assumed philosophical meaning imbued in the image as well as the musical compositions, “Past Has Not Passed,” again relates to a notion of circuitous movement. That title hints at the all together crushing-unknowing and uncertainty by which life is lived. Blackshaw seems fascinated by any obscurities and also entitles a tune “Shroud,” lending listeners images of cloaked and clandestine figures.

By titling the first and last track after a pair of gates related to the origin of dreams, Blackshaw not only succeeds in creating a recording that is circular in nature – it refers back to itself – but even concludes with a reprisal of the lead off track.

There seems to have been an immense amount of contemplation poured into the titling of each of these six tracks – not more than the music one may assume, but the lack of consideration given to listeners relegates Litany to art for art’s sake. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t necessarily make for good listening.

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Tracklist:
01 – Gate of Ivory
02 – Past Has Not Passed
03 – Echo and Abyss
04 – Infinite Circle
05 – Shroud
06 – Gate of Horn

“All I can do is try and make my guitar sound like a piano…”

From Architects of Harmonic Rooms

Busdriver – RoadKillOverCoat (Epitaph Records, 2007)

Being Busdriver can’t be the easiest job ever. Surely, he’s expected to rapidly answer any and all questions he encounters – whether they’re about music, politics or whatever – in a fast and well verbalized fashion. Perhaps that’s made him stronger seeing as his releases have maintained an intense pace, unique timbre and thoughtful content amid production that makes the masses uncomfortable.

His first full length for punk label turned indie-stalwart, Epitaph, finds the production values in about the same place as previous efforts offered by Mush. The odd warble of Bds’s sung choruses have not been played up per-say, but seem more frequent here on songs like “Secret Skin” and “Pompous Posies”. His curious flow is still intact as well and on “Mr. Mistakes” Bd pauses rarely as words flow seemingly effortlessly; shuffling from his mind to his mouth and to our speakers.

The most amusing, but not most playful track proffered here is “Sunshowers”. The electronic beat is background to Bd talking about art school; how it isn’t all that terrific and how difficult it is to create for a living. A further example of Bd being mischievous comes in the form of a sample on “The Troglodyte Wins,” which features a sample reminiscent of the portion of “Annie” sample in Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life”.

As if previous releases from this man haven’t been entertaining, RoadKillOverCoat represents a step forward in visibility for this man, who probably should be rolling in money and big contracts, but may never get to because of his adherence to his own aesthetic.

Tracklisting:
01 – Casting Agents and Cowgirls
02 – Less Yes’s, More No’s
03 – Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia Is The Sport Of Now)
04 – Ethereal Driftwood
05 – Secret Skin
06 – Sun Shower
07 – Go Slow (w/ Bianca Casady)
08 – The Troglodyte Wins
09 – Pompous Posies! Your Party’s No Fun
10 – (Bloody Paw On The) Kill Floor
11 – Mr. Mistakes (Bested By the Whisper Chasm)
12 – Dream Catcher’s Mitt

Odetta (R.I.P.)

She wanted to hang on until Obama’s inauguration, but didn’t quite make it. It seems odd that very recently, Odetta was referenced in writing here. But besides that, she was really my introduction to folk music. A link to musics past as well as this nation’s, she carried a wealth of ideas and experiences that all too many won’t be able to learn.

I was lucky enough to watch her perform twice, but right now, that doesn’t really seem like all that much.

(I have no idea what those pictures are about, but the song’s good.)

Money Troubles

Even for those of you that are gainfully employed, you got ‘em. They’re obviously not unique to industrialized nations, but when Jamaicans sing about ‘em, it almost seems alright.

The Pioneers – “Money Day” (Produced by Leslie Kong, 196X)

Larry Marshall – “Money Girl” (Studio One, 1968)

Mikey Dread - “Friend and Money” (Produced by Joe Gibbs, 197X)

Dennis Brown – “Money in My Pocket”, Top of the Pops (1979)

Dillinger (a.ka. The Loving Pauper) – “The Fool and his Money” (Produced by Bunny “Striker”  Lee, 1977)

The Itals – “Material Gain” (Engineered by Sylvan Morris, 1983)

Thanks to Firebladder1 and all of his records.

Madvillainy 2 – The Madlib Remix (Stones Throw, 2008)

Anything positive one reads about Madlib (née Otis Jackson, Jr.) is true. The samples he secures for each release are assuredly vital as well as previously unearthed. His prowess seems to have become mythical – perhaps that’s too much, but it’s difficult to find genuine criticism of the man and his work. The Madlib Remix may catch some flack, but its purpose is to hold listeners over until Doom re-surfaces with a slate of nuanced and hilarious rhymes to match Madlib’s samples for the proper follow up to Madvillainy (2004). The Remixes though reapply Doom’s raps from that first offering to new Madlib musical constructions. As in the past, it works. Of course, since the lyrical content is familiar, the music that Doom’s voice was previously set to could be missed if not for the always substantial beats from his partner.

Considering that this isn’t actually a new release, one may assume that no new statement (assuming that there was an old one) is to be made here. And maybe there’s not, but lyrically there’re considerations of the past, present and future – which is kinda funny considering listeners have been waiting for a future release predicated on previous work.

Screaming Out the Ju-Ju for Jim-Jim

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Brad Barr – The Fall Apartment (Tompkins Square, 2008)

Unfortunately or not, The Fall Apartment really has nothing to do with the Slip. That band’s metamorphosis over the years has encompassed a great deal of stylistic variety, but doesn’t ever really touch upon acoustic, instrumental guitar music. The lone, potential meeting of Barr’s group and his solo outing is that of production value. Even while this disc focuses on Barr’s guitar, there are occasional flares of studio treachery more commonly found in electric music.

The first time that some obvious tape hiss rears its head is on “War.” And coming after “Sarah Through the Wall,” with its complex, although at times academic progressions, “War” presents itself as a new idea amongst all the lonely guitar tracks. Sadly enough it begins in the same fashion that the M.A.S.H. theme song does. Pretty quickly the tune differentiates itself enough so that listeners don’t think about helicopters and medics. Deep in the mix, a ghostly stringed instrument rings out occasional chords as the tape hiss fills the holes that the guitar leaves. It’s an interesting, if perhaps under-developed idea.

The only other track from The Fall Apartment that boasts production in the same way is the penultimate track, “Do I Have to Understand That?”

Whereas “War” retains the album’s folksy direction, “Do I…” seems like an ambient interlude from a rock record. Echoed percussion and the plucking of strings back-up an occasional electric guitar chord or screetch. More importantly than the sounds flying from this track is it’s sequencing on the album. Were this track placed at the very end of the recording, it would have served the album more fully as a whole. As it is, the following number, “Seranetta,” another lonely ballad, seems disconnected from the rest of the disc. This one flaw doesn’t greatly detract from the recording, but could have worked to create a more unified offering.

If this all sounded liking whining, it shouldn’t. ‘Cause Barr has balls enough to turn in an interpretation of Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box,” which surprisingly retains a tremendous amount of its initial fervor and ferocity. Who knew?

Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory – Tree Colored See… (Mush Records, 2006)

A former member of Beachwood Sparks, Jen Cohen previously of the Aislers Set and a producer that, in the past, has worked with Project Blowed come together to create an album that should defy categorization. Instead Tree Colored See… avails itself to be just another second millennium electro/indie mash-up. If the first Mystic Chords of Memory album, filled with West Coast folk-pop, is familiar to you, simply add electronic production backing the entire endeavor and that’s what Mush Records has given the world here. The music is definitely soothing; you can make love to it, you can fall asleep to it afterward. Driving across the vast plains of Wyoming coupled with listening to this disc may be fatal though. Relatively strong song writing along with guest appearances, including Omid (another Project Blowed producer) keeps this offering interesting – at least on occasion. But, the hallmark of good collaborations is not being able to differentiate what party is responsible for what sounds. And on a number of occasions there’s no way of knowing who fashioned the melodies of Tree Colored See…

01 – The Seed
02 – Decisions, Decisions
03 – Broaden a New Sound
04 – Coyote’s Song (When You Hear it Too)
05 – Memory
06 – Klaw Prints
07 – Walk in the After Light
08 – When the End Meets the Beginning
09 – Feet Upon the Sand
10 – Softer Sail
11 – Floating

Beachwood Sparks Interview: You might think less of them after watchin’ this, but you get to see their house…

Dntel (Jimmy Tamborello) – “Umbrella” features a Chris Gunst vocal line.

Radio Rap Circa ‘92 (Part Two)

Fu Shnickens – FU: Don’t Take it Personal (Jive)

“When you were at the parties rapping and scratching I did a chat/ On tape, on tape and cassette, you’ll hear me live and direct.”

Radio Rap Circa ‘92

Das Efx – Dead Serious (East West)

“I got more skills than John Han-got-cock”