Alexander Tucker – Alexander Tucker (Thrill Jockey)
Vinyl/DL
19 April 2014
Experimental blues/folk singer-songwriter, Alexander Tucker
re-releases his debut album.
Previously released in 2005 on CDr only, Alexander Tucker’s debut
album is set to be released on vinyl as part of Record Store Day. Since its original release, Alexander has
worked with some interesting luminaries including Fuck Buttons and Imbogodom, and
is one half of Grumbling Fur who gave us 2013s marvellous Glynnaestra album.
His diseased mandolin and guitar playing are original to say the
least, and his use of detuned guitars and tape loops provide interesting
effects and backdrops which resonate and linger. Once described as “the kind of fog you won’t
mind getting lost in” Tucker thrives on conforming to be non-conformist. There’s certainly no doubt that he is
innovative and maybe even avant garde, but the point does come when one
questions is it purely improvisation rather than pre-planned, and how far can
it be listened to before it becomes absorbed in itself.
Kicking off with Multistoryhaiku the album is a breath of fresh air
and as a debut it stinks of specialness.
For a Graduate straight out of four years of fine art his project was a risk and a brave one at that
for someone fed on a diet of 60s psychedelia and krautrock.
Through the wonderfully titled Shirts Give Pleasure To Those Who
Wear Them and The Black Bear, the chopped and re-assembled strings and voices are
unique and appealing to anyone wanting to have their aural areas
challenged. It’s only halfway through
the album that it seems to lose focus and drifts away into a little self-indulgent
nothingness.
There’s little doubt that Tucker is a clever chap and a visionary
too. His ability to create something
quite unheard of is something to behold, and the way each track is layered like
some sort of musical tapestry is quite lovely.
It does eventually however, revert to tracks which seem to lose a little
direction and veer off into the realms of free-form experimentalism.
Admittedly, he’s moved on in the last nine years, and his work has
become more cohesive, but this reminder of how it all started is certainly
worth listening to, to at least gauge where it all began.
7.5/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 19/04/14 - here
No comments:
Post a Comment