Back
with his sixth solo album in 13 years, New Zealander Greg Malcolm
presents ‘Leather and Lacy’, a reinterpretation of
seven Steve Lacy compositions recorded live from Wellington Jazz
festival 2006. Utilising his unique playing style which utilises
three guitars at once, one with each foot and one safely placed
on his lap, Malcolm etches out a totally captivating minimalist
improv drone-laced Americana soundscape that totally redefines
the original compositions. It is a soundscape that somehow totally
engages the listener and cut’s them off from external influences
thanks to its slow, almost requiem-esque aesthetic. The trio of
guitars each occupy a specific range within the musical-sphere
to create what sounds like a one-man orchestra and as such a rich
and introspective tapestry of melodica-laced drone is carved.
The
most impressive aspect of Malcolm’s approach is the way
he hangs delayed guitar strums in the air like smoke, letting
them slowly and melodiously creep with an eerie sense of melancholic
romanticism across dark and soulful expanses of ghostly dark ambience.
Staying true to the original soul of each of the songs, he still
manages to totally re-engineer them into almost proprietary compositions.
The slow-motion and heavily textured pluck’n’roll
of opener ‘prayer’ is a wonderful case in point, the
track echoing across a warm, fuzzy and deeply infectious soundscape
that brims with intrigue and mystery. Like a cowboy riding into
a baron and lifeless town in the dead of night and ever so slowly
creeping his way around in order to assess his new found yet dangerous
terrain, ‘the crust’ delights. The track picks up
the pace ever-so-slightly, rambling along endearingly and totally
captivatingly whilst the out of focus and inebriated lead melody
glistens jaggedly with an unnerving sense of grave consequences
to follow.
The
dreamy and burbling melodies of ‘bone’ resonate with
an unnerving charm, its subtle kraut-esque groove locking you
in and refusing to relinquish control. On ‘blues for aida’
the out-of-sync, delay heavy blues melody is totally stripped
down and laid over a minimalist strata of mournful yet star-speckled
jazzy post-rock that is like a submerged Tortoise vinyl being
played at 16.5 rpm. By now, listener’s would be totally
rapt in the gloriously unhurried and devilishly dark momentum
of the album, such is its consistency. On the closer ‘life
on its way’ there are no changes in direction as Malcolm
delivers a haunting endpiece that reaffirms the albums requiem-esque
nature. A sparse and perpetual militaristic grind ensues that
sees a trapped lead melody break free and move haphazardly and
hauntingly across the ever-menacing backdrop.
Ultimately,
‘Leather and Lacy’ is a slow-burner that captures
the unforgiving yet quixotic aura of a vintage Wild West hinterland
and on the surface its dark drone-laced Americana shares a similar
aesthetic to those of M.G.R and The Theory of Abstract Light.
Dig deeper though and it reveals itself as a completely different
beast; its improv-jazz based nucleus influencing a far more supple
left-of-field soundscape which perfectly suits the free-spirit
of the environment it alludes to. Such is the nervy and intimate
atmosphere created by Malcolm’s delicate melodies and subtly
foreboding ambience that one could only imagine that witnessing
it live would have been a surreal, almost otherworldly experience
that would have rocked you to the core. This is hardcore minimalism.
(KS)
For fans of: A totally stripped down Richard Leo Johnson
meets Poolplayers in a submerged vision of the Wild West in the
black of night
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