|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
review by Bill Binkelman Ambient guitar wizard Jeff Pearce returns to the melancholic soundscape terrain of his earlier recordings (The Hidden Rift and Vestiges) on his latest effort, Bleed. Unlike recent releases (The Light Beyond and To the Shores of Heaven), the music on Bleed is undeniably darker, more somber, and, in my opinion, more complex and evocative. While I appreciated the technical mastery of his previous two recordings, I believe that Pearce's strongest talent lie in the same realm as fellow artist Tim Story, i.e. crafting miniature musical paintings suffused with a sense of tragic beauty. Just as Story's neo-chamber pieces evoke regret, bittersweet remembrance, and loss, songs on The Hidden Rift and Vestiges struck me as musical interpretations of grey skies, open desolate places, and barren trees in late autumn. Recent Pearce recordings were filled, instead, with warm drifting ambient pieces and elicited feelings of peace, serenity, and the fulfillingness of love. In addition, some of the songs got quite lengthy. On Bleed, all tracks are in the three to four-minute range. By narrowing his focus and crafting shorter pieces, Pearce has exponentially (in a positive way) affected the impact of the music. The opening song, "Autumn and Regret" conveys more in its three-and-a-half minutes than many other artists can do in triple that time span. Reverbed guitar, played gently against a backdrop of the echoes of previously played notes, contains enough melody to make the song accessible yet it still wholly exists within the realm of ambient music. "Written in Water" slows the pace down considerably and adds layers of processed guitar (resembling synths) underneath a more plaintive series of notes and chords. One thing that will strike fans of recent Jeff Pearce albums (after just one playing of Bleed) is how this is Pearce's most "guitary" album in a long time. While he still does wonders in the studio with manipulating echo, reverb, and who knows what else, the crystalline tones, notes and chords on this recording are clearly coming from a guitar (on most, but all cuts). I prefer this musical style; it allows the more "human" side of this artist's sensitive and emotional compositions and playing to come to the forefront. I'm not dissing floating ambient music, but Pearce's guitar playing can be so beautifully sad that the less "disguised" it is, the better it plays to my ears. Of course, sometimes (such as on selected cuts on The Hidden Rift or Vestiges) his more textural playing is equally impressive. Bleed is powerful in its carefully nuanced portrayals of sorrow and pain, and I'm not drawing these "sad" inferences solely from my own emotional response to the music. Track titles include "Through Tears," "False Hope," "Abandoned Playground," and the title song. Jeff Pearce has obviously translated some personally felt and somber feelings of his own onto this recording. Had I heard it before compiling my "favorites" list for 2002, it would have easily placed in the top 10. From the mildly uptempo "False Hope" (featuring chorale effects underneath the sad guitar refrain) to the shadowy darkness of "Abandoned Playground" (one of the few tracks to prominently feature the processed washes and "pseudo-synthesizer" musical textures of recent Pearce albums) to the tone of acceptance and resignation that permeates the closing song, "The Last Secret," Bleed is proof enough for me that Jeff Pearce remains, arguably, the finest practitioner of electric guitar ambient music recording today. Simply put, Bleed is music at its most emotional, its most evocative, and its most sincere. Highly recommended. |
|
