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review by Bill Binkelman Acoustic guitarist Michael Young, who hails from my home town of Minneapolis, describes how he composes music in the CD's liner notes. It involves trying to figure out what his guitar wants to say and whether or not it makes him tap his feet. Hence the title of this innovative and unusual recording of instrumentals featuring Young on 6 and 12-string guitar, assisted by Dave Berg on upright bass, Ryan Parsons on percussion and Gabriela Sweet on bottleneck slide guitar. Musically, a valid comparison could be made between Young and fellow Twin Cities artists Leo Kottke or Billy McLaughlin. You may infer, by that comment, that Young's playing is more on the aggressive side, and not as laid back as some other contemporaries on the instrument. You'd be right, but he is still always accessible and "user friendly," provided you're not looking for something too laid back, a la Will Ackerman. With seventeen songs on the recording, I can't detail them all. Things begin in an uptempo and complex manner on "New Mexican Scar." Many times Young overdubs two or maybe even three guitars (played by himself) and I count at least two of them on this cut [POST-REVIEW ADDENDUM: Since posting this review, I have been informed that there are no overdubs on this album and that Michael Young is playing one guitar only on these tracks, which makes these songs even more amazing to hear!]. While the tune is sprightly, it's also rich in contrasting melodic strains. "Rosin" quiets things down substantially in a folksy/bluesy kinda style, although there are still friendly fireworks aplenty from Young as he flies his fingers across strings and fretboards with sure-handed dexterity. One of my favorite songs is "Empty Hallway" on which all the accompanists contribute. The upright bass is bowed, not plucked and Sweet's bottleneck playing is, well, sweet. The tune has a relaxed nature to it, but also a bit sad, as befits the title, and the bottleneck slide lends the music an air of the country, of course. Young believes in being somewhat idiosyncratic with song titles, and luckily he explains most of the tracks' origins in the copious liner notes. So you find out the "First Step" is named thusly because it was inspired by Young learning a Leo Kottke tune ("I Yell At Traffic") as his first instrumental number. "Head, Point North" is a relaxed ensemble piece that derives its title from the notion that you'll sleep better when you point your head in that direction. Sometimes, the song title runs opposite of the song itself, so you have the forceful "I'm Cold" which sounds like he's trying to warm things up! On the other hand, "I'm Sad" certainly paints that somber emotion's picture well, being one of the slower and low key numbers on the album, with some of Young's softest playing counterpointed by Sweet's bluesy slide work. The friendly and jaunty "Where's Philadelphia" closes the CD on an uptempo and cheery note, with just Young multi-tracking his guitars as he did on the first song. I Listen to My Feet is a fun album to listen to when you want to hear great acoustic guitar music, but it's not just pretty background improvisations or structured adult contemporary music (which, don't get me wrong, can both be equally satisfying). There's some serious reaching going on here, and Young (as well as his accompanists) have their minds set on being entertaining and provocative. For fans of the aforementioned players (Kottke and McLaughlin.), you have a new artist you'll want to start paying attention to, and like those other two, he also comes from my home town. Hmmm, maybe it's something in the water. |
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