Jack Rose - Opium Musick
(Eclipse)
Last year, Jack Rose stepped out from behind the dense, droning walls he and his bandmates had erected in Pelt. His first solo LP, Red Horse, White Mule, proved to be among a rare class of acoustic guitarists, propelling him to the fore of the swelling avant garde folk scene that largely revolves around the Northeast US.
In the time since he has released a very limited CDR of ragtime under the moniker Doctor Ragtime, in addition to playing a fair amount of shows across the US. After seeing him play and getting a taste of some of the new material, I anxiously awaited the new LP.
And finally, Opium Musick, now spins on my record player. Jack's beautiful fingerpicking envelops my room in graceful cascading lines. The opening and closing tracks, "Yaman Blues" and "Black Pearls," give way to a darker mood and simmering meditation. The first pits a droning tampura (basically sounds like a sitar) against Jack's acoustic slide guitar.
"Black Pearls" begins as a maelstrom of booming acoustic guitars before easing into a furious exercise in near-restraint. Closing out side 1 is "Linden Ave
Stomp" which was co-written by Cul de Sac's own guitar virtuoso, Glenn Jones. A bouncy and active song, it hints at the Doctor Ragtime CDR in its unabashedly old-timey sound. "Mountaintop Lamento" starts off the second side with a gentle ebbing and delicately interweaving melodies.
With Fahey gone and Kottke collaborating with members of Phish, Jack's two
LPs have placed him at the head of a small (but very welcome) pack of acoustic guitarists (Steffan Basho-Junghans, Glenn Jones, Sir Richard Bishop, Ben Chasney), who are pushing themselves towards a thrilling revolution.
[ed: Rose's two Eclipse LPs will be compiled on a CD release by VHF Records
entitled Two Originals Of...
scheduled for March 8, 2004.]
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