#no drums

[johnyorks]

Listen/purchase: Not yet fall by John Yorks

[dustedmagazine]

D.C. Cross — Glookies Guit. (No Drums)

Arriving just six months afterward, D.C Cross’s latest is very much of a piece with his previous release, Wizrad. Both feature quirky titles (this one apparently referencing a cannabis strain), Cross in a similar pose on the cover, and, like several of his other earlier recordings, a combination of Takoma school acoustic fingerpicking — in this case, played on a six-string without a slide — with some ambient compositions. I suggested in my review of Wizrad for Dusted that that album would leave listeners wanting more, and here Cross delivers the goods.

Once again, Cross’s knack for creating and developing compelling guitar melodies and arrangements is on display. The tracks tend to be concise, with only a couple of them stretching past five minutes. The videos for “Edward River, Denilquin Flow” and “Gen Xer Love Story” showcase the cinematic quality of Cross’s compositions (he is also a videographer). In both tunes, introductory chords lead into a sprightly picking pattern that proceeds through a series of shifts and variations that seem simultaneously unexpected and inevitable, and then the chords are revisited toward the end to complete the journey.

The longer guitar pieces, “The Nepean” and “Rhinestones, in Black and White,” are particularly engaging. The latter, at nearly eight minutes, unfurls from a crystalline picking pattern into a gentle, loping melody and gradually picks up speed before easing up again toward the end in a series of chords leading back to a kind of reprise of the original melody.

The ambient tracks complement the acoustic tracks and contribute to the flow of the recording overall. “Wattle Battle” separates the aforementioned longer pieces, integrating woozy strums and gentle pulses, and “Failed Gen Xer Love Story” serves as a prelude to the similarly titled tune that follows. The longest of them, “EU Psychic Travel Club,” closes the set with found sounds swathed in warm hiss and faint low tones.

Cross is emerging as an important voice among the modern players who continue to find new territory in the world of guitar discovered by John Fahey (who, of course, also experimented with found sounds and electronics). With the release of two fine albums in so short a time, he seems to be on a creative tear. Fans of Bachman, Isasa, Jones, Rolin, et al., take note.

Jim Marks

[halfhappyhooligan]

“Good Boy.”

[dyingforbadmusic]

Music: hkmori - anybody can find love (except you.)

[wizardnuke]

hozier songs are all "i wouldn't be here without black artists" "you should kill your boss" "i love ireland :(" "DO Y OU NEED A DOG. I CAN BARK"

[sleepy-bebby]

Top left clockwise: Keith groover, Jordan Simons, Bret Crow, Harry Hansen

[lackadaisycats]

These conditions make it awfully difficult to have a sardonic, cuttingly introspective film-noir interior monologue along with your drink.

This is actually from an animated vlog RitoBandito recently made in which he discusses working on Lackadaisy as a 3d artist. You can watch it here! Also, the 3d Rocky model was made by the marvelous Katie Nelson (Billie Bust Up)! We use it all the time in production as a scale reference for set design. Rito rigged it up and had some fun with it.

[idkaguyorsomething]

“ap gwilliam was the worst prime minister” doctor. babe. i know why you don’t tell your companions everything at once, but you’re really gonna tell them a bald-faced lie like that. your ex murdered a tenth of earth’s population and immediately turned the entire planet into a hellscape, there is some steep competition here

[retquits]

see what they don't tell you is that you HAVE to make the most self-indulgent ocs and self inserts to inject into your favorite media and to have the most tender moments with your favorite blorbos and to live out every fantasy and tragedy your heart desires. you just have to

[ashiyn]

OLI'S CHRISTMAS MUSIC SHOW [2024] ↳ Sexy Christmas — TheOrionSound ft. SolidarityGaming

i don't know if jimmy can keep his pg rating after this one

[pangur-and-grim]

before and after Belphie pounced on a tail

[dustedmagazine]

D.C Cross — Wizrad: Adventures Into Ecstatic Guitar (No Drums)

Wizrad (sic; the spelling is unexplained) is the latest release of instrumental music by D.C Cross, who also records as singer-songwriter Darren Cross and is a veteran of the Australian music scene. The emphasis is on Takoma school guitar, though a few of the tracks feature field recordings and/or what is described as “madcap ambient” often comparable to the work of, e.g., Chihei Hatakeyama. The resulting adventure may or may not be ecstatic, as the subtitle suggests, but it is thoroughly enjoyable.

Cross’s compositions are sprightly and show some pop sensibilities in terms of dynamics and development. His playing is precise and inspired, fast without being showy, apparently all on six-string without a slide, and usually or always in open tunings. Like John Fahey (and Merle Travis before him), Cross makes the most of a three-finger style with a heavy emphasis on the thumb(pick). The compositions have a fresh-but-familiar feel reminiscent of those of Glenn Jones and Ragtime Ralph Johnston, to name two more recent contributors to the genre.

Standout tracks include the one-two punch of “Brumby Revisited” and “The Regicide of Daniel Ek,” which open the album (after a brief introductory track) and chug along like a mountain railroad, and the more meditative “No Trouble,” but all of the tracks are strong and distinctive. Thus, “Rotterdam Hussle” (sic; wordplay seems to be a recurrent theme) differs from the others in focusing on and driving home a fairly simple figure. The ambient and guitar tracks are generally separate, though “Nothing Ever Stops (On the Astral Plane)” starts as the former and ends as the latter. The ambient tracks are a bit more difficult to distinguish apart from those that feature found sounds (“Birdy Birdy” is self-explanatory), but they help to create and sustain the overall mood.

At less than 40 minutes, Wizrad zips by, likely leaving listeners wishing for a longer record and digging into Cross’s back catalog, which is well worth the effort. His approach to the guitar is tried and true, and his mastery of it is on display here, along with a knack for composing memorable tunes.

Jim Marks

[grumpycurbur]

This hits different...

[girl-drink-drunk]

you would fuck that old man. i would fuck that old man. we are the same. hold my hand

[pants-lint]

Just had a Thought and now I'm curious. What's you guy's strangest comfort media? It doesn't have to be strange as in like creepy/fucked up/whatever, it can just be smthn a lil odd.