Jack Rose - Red Horse, White Mule
(Eclipse)
Pelt - Houston 2001
(Klang)
Jack Rose has been in Pelt for a while now and has been an integral force in their stunning output over the past five-ish years. While the band is best known for sprawling tones, spontaneity and occasional dissonance, Rose has found the time to extract himself from this formula for two releases that demonstrate his remarkable skill as a blues guitarist. In a little more than a year, Rose's acoustic side has issued a CDR and an LP (both in limited quantities) that have been uniformly praised by all those fortunate enough heard them. The CDR, Hung Far Low, Portland, Oregon, first saw the light of day as a largely tour-only release in 2001. It was far too brief, but inspired covers, such as Mississippi John Hurt's "Nobody's Business," demonstrated that Rose possessed a definite talent that had never been expressed in this way with Pelt. Red Horse, White Mule (Eclipse Records, from an edition of 318 copies) plays for thirty-five minutes and is short, like it's predecessor. That said, those minutes have the ability to completely transport the listener, and are destined to be played over and over again.
The material is very emotional and intense. Over every bit of new music I've heard this year, regardless of the source, not one other album contains as much of the performer's soul as this LP. Rose has undeniably poured himself into his writing, as well as this particular performance. No matter what I do to try to explain this record, I know that I'll fall short of Kisan Nagai's massive essay from the back of the LP cover. To quote him, "it can truly be said that Jack Rose has the Blues." While that line reeks of hyperbole and cliché, one listen to the LP will reveal that the statement is completely accurate and wholly appropriate.
"Red Horse" is the album's side-long first track. It is a sixteen-minute epic that is full of quiet authority. It starts off with a few attention-grabbing strums intermixed with a little bit of picking that reveals the song's overall melody. This sort of structure moves along for a minute or so until the tune's drive really begins to take shape. Rose is content to kick the pace into overdrive from time to time within the number, generating an incredibly fast picking pace at several points along the track's duration. From start to finish, the track remains captivating.
The LP's second side starts with "Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground." The track's sound, from the playing style to the material, completely resembles a modern-day impression of all the great delta blues masters. Rose has to be making them all smile. "White Mule part 1" is powered by a distinctly circular rhythm. It rolls and churns for a brief three minutes before segueing into "White Mule part 2". The second portion slows down while retaining a bit of the first's lyrical drive. This trend continues throughout the rest of the track, along with the occasional ebb and flow in guitar speed. The end product is fully mesmerizing. The album closes out with "Hide the Whiskey (Blues for the Colonel)." Nearly dissonant hard picking takes shape and forms a unified and expressive blues riff before falling apart again right as the needle lifts off the vinyl.
Red Horse, White Mule is one of those moments where substance and style meet and harmoniously become one. The acoustic is an uncomplicated instrument that can produce so many different types of sounds. While it is debatable whether or not traditional blues represents a type of music that is more "pure" or "true" than other forms, I think there can be no debate as to the emotional impact that can come from the blues when they are properly played. Jack Rose is a new and important voice within the genre and this LP is simply fantastic.
While on the topic of Jack and other things Pelt, Klang's latest offering in the Klang Archives series is an ultra limited (40 copies) CDR of a Pelt show from Houston in 2001. Jump on over to klang.org or Eclipse Records and try to find a copy if they're still available. As phenomenal as Pelt's double disc Ayahuasca was, this is one of the best Pelt releases in the last few years. Recorded on May 16, 2001, Houston 2001 is thirty-one minutes of Pelt hitting all of the proper notes in stride. The disc consists of three untitled tracks, but each one definitely hits a chord and works. The first two tracks are shorter, each utilizing a different part of Pelt's drone armada. The centerpiece is the discs final track - twenty minutes of layered goodness. Brevity is of no concern when it comes to this disc. Pick it up now while you still have a chance.
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