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...according to our Dave on Wed 09 Mar, 2011.
J Mascis's new solo offering is quite a... dare I say restrained affair. Gone (but not forgotten) are the usual traits that I would usually associate with the Big J...or Jizzy M if you're feeling Hitman & Her about it. Like dressing like somone who's just walked backwards through a grunge wardrobe (sez me..I'm still flexing the classic long sleeved thermal undershirt and T-shirt look made famous by the Chris Cornell in "Singles".) and his eschewing of the blazing lead guitar riffs that endeared him to me and countless other wusses the world over. It's a collection of tender cuts, almost all played on an acoustic guitar, did I hear a twelve string there?? I reckon soooo. It is a Mascis record, his voice is still as Neil Young ish as ever but things have been toned down. It's also totally drum free, which isn't that much of a bad thing... I guess you have to let songs breathe somtimes. The last thing you want on an acoustic almost folk record is some Darsch throwing drum patterns all over the shop. Each song is played with utmost tenderness and sensitivity. It's a bit "My So Called Life", you can imagine loads of grungy teens navel gazing each other to death. My favourite track so far is the beautiful "Where Are You" it's a sweet song and its very moving. A great if subdued offering.
· First ever studio acoustic album from Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis.
· In the quarter century since he founded Dinosaur (Jr), J Mascis
has created some of the era’s signature songs, albums and
styles. The laconically-based roar of his guitar, drums and
vocals have driven a long string of bands - Deep Wound,
Dinosaur Jr, Gobblehoof, Velvet Monkeys, The Fog, Witch,
Sweet Apple - and he has guested on innumerable sessions.
· But ‘Several Shades Of Why’, recorded at Amherst,
Massachusetts’ Bisquiteen Studios, is J’s first solo studio record,
and it is an album of incredible beauty, performed with a
delicacy not always associated with his work.
· Nearly all acoustic, ‘Several Shades Of Why’ was created with
the help of a few friends. Notable amongst them are Kurt Vile,
Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mount Zion), Kurt Fedora (longtime
collusionist), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell
(Band Of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Matt
Valentine (The Golden Road), and Suzanne Thorpe (Wounded
Knees). Together in small mutable groupings, they conjure up
classic sounds ranging from English-tinged folk to drifty, West
Coast-style singer / songwriterism. But every track, every note
even, bears that distinct Mascis watermark.
Listen To Me
Several Shades Of Why
Not Enough
Very Nervous And Love
Is It Done
Make It Right
Where Are You
Too Deep
Can I
What Happened
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