Once upon a time there was a magical land called
Southern California. In the late 1960’s and into the 1970’s a group of
musicians inhabited this land and created some of the best sounds of their
century. Names like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, Brian Wilson, The
Byrds, and later The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat and even
Steely Dan came to embody this shaggy sound and the lifestyles it implied. Like
all good things its time came and went, leaving lasting stylistic impressions
on both the collective ears and hearts of the listening public. Alas, another
movement come and gone. And yet! In 2011, a new name appears on the scene:
Jonathan Wilson, a young North Carolinian who made several albums with a group
called Muscadine in the late 90’s. Wilson was building a buzz around his analog
studio and production skills at his compound in Laurel Canyon (the spiritual
home of that SoCal sound that had seemed to pass into history) and released his
first album, Gentle Spirit, on the great Bella Union label.
The first time I played Gentle Spirit my jaw hit the floor. Here it was, finally. A
completely legitimate and heavenly return to that beautiful California sound. A
delirious mix of great songs played by a bunch of amazing modern musicians
totally embracing pastoral songwriting, meaningful lyrics and all, wrapped in a
gauzy haze of psychedelia and recorded with analog signals burning their way
directly into your ears. One can’t really overemphasize the sound of this
recording. On LP it is a sublimely warm and satisfying listening experience. The
thirteen songs on this album veer between smoky ballads of love and loss and
more upbeat rockers. Everything has that appealing California laid-back appeal,
with great care being given to vocal performances and the juxtaposition of
acoustic instruments and crushing electric guitar. Coiled underneath it all
though is a tie-dyed snake that bares its fangs on "Desert Raven," "Natural
Rhapsody," and "Woe Is Me" with washes of keyboards, swelling
waves of bass and heavenly spiraling guitar lines.
"How can a debut album be so accomplished?"
you may be asking yourself. A fair question, and it does seem almost
counterintuitive that a relative newcomer could create an album of mature songs
with rapturous musical accompaniment and an almost too-good-to-be-true analog
sound. That, indeed, is the mystery of Jonathan Wilson. In answer, all that can
be said was that in short order after this album was released Wilson was
hosting jam sessions with the likes of Tom Petty, Bob Weir, Chris Robinson and David
Rawlings among others. His studio and his own production skills have become
very in-demand as he assists artists like Father John Misty, Dawes, and Conor
Oberst in realizing the sounds in their heads. Then, in the last two years he
could be found traveling the world in Roger Waters’ band as the guitar,
keyboard and vocal ringer on one of the biggest and most emotionally satisfying
tours of the new century. Quietly and unobtrusively, Wilson has woven his way
into the modern sound. He is an artist to be reckoned with.
It has been a rocket ride to the top for this
guy, and he has produced two more superb solo albums, but, it is Gentle Spirit that brings me back over and over. The guitar tones on songs like "The
Way I Feel," "Ballad of the Pines," or "Valley Of The
Silver Moon" strike just the
right note. Wilson has clearly absorbed the lessons of Hendrix, Pink Floyd and
classic Neil Young and melded them together in a crucible of song to produce
sturdy pillars of sound. The album loses nothing with repeated listens. In fact
it seems to continually unfold, revealing a profound opening musical statement
from one of the most promising musicians on the scene today. Do the sounds of
cranky digital guitars and endless loops of other people’s samples leaving you
cold? Take two Gentle Spirits and call me in the morning.
- Paul Epstein
Once upon a time there was a magical land called
Southern California. In the late 1960’s and into the 1970’s a group of
musicians inhabited this land and created some of the best sounds of their
century. Names like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Frank Zappa, Brian Wilson, The
Byrds, and later The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat and even
Steely Dan came to embody this shaggy sound and the lifestyles it implied. Like
all good things its time came and went, leaving lasting stylistic impressions
on both the collective ears and hearts of the listening public. Alas, another
movement come and gone. And yet! In 2011, a new name appears on the scene:
Jonathan Wilson, a young North Carolinian who made several albums with a group
called Muscadine in the late 90’s. Wilson was building a buzz around his analog
studio and production skills at his compound in Laurel Canyon (the spiritual
home of that SoCal sound that had seemed to pass into history) and released his
first album, Gentle Spirit, on the great Bella Union label.
The first time I played Gentle Spirit my jaw hit the floor. Here it was, finally. A
completely legitimate and heavenly return to that beautiful California sound. A
delirious mix of great songs played by a bunch of amazing modern musicians
totally embracing pastoral songwriting, meaningful lyrics and all, wrapped in a
gauzy haze of psychedelia and recorded with analog signals burning their way
directly into your ears. One can’t really overemphasize the sound of this
recording. On LP it is a sublimely warm and satisfying listening experience. The
thirteen songs on this album veer between smoky ballads of love and loss and
more upbeat rockers. Everything has that appealing California laid-back appeal,
with great care being given to vocal performances and the juxtaposition of
acoustic instruments and crushing electric guitar. Coiled underneath it all
though is a tie-dyed snake that bares its fangs on "Desert Raven," "Natural
Rhapsody," and "Woe Is Me" with washes of keyboards, swelling
waves of bass and heavenly spiraling guitar lines.
"How can a debut album be so accomplished?"
you may be asking yourself. A fair question, and it does seem almost
counterintuitive that a relative newcomer could create an album of mature songs
with rapturous musical accompaniment and an almost too-good-to-be-true analog
sound. That, indeed, is the mystery of Jonathan Wilson. In answer, all that can
be said was that in short order after this album was released Wilson was
hosting jam sessions with the likes of Tom Petty, Bob Weir, Chris Robinson and David
Rawlings among others. His studio and his own production skills have become
very in-demand as he assists artists like Father John Misty, Dawes, and Conor
Oberst in realizing the sounds in their heads. Then, in the last two years he
could be found traveling the world in Roger Waters’ band as the guitar,
keyboard and vocal ringer on one of the biggest and most emotionally satisfying
tours of the new century. Quietly and unobtrusively, Wilson has woven his way
into the modern sound. He is an artist to be reckoned with.
It has been a rocket ride to the top for this
guy, and he has produced two more superb solo albums, but, it is Gentle Spirit that brings me back over and over. The guitar tones on songs like "The
Way I Feel," "Ballad of the Pines," or "Valley Of The
Silver Moon" strike just the
right note. Wilson has clearly absorbed the lessons of Hendrix, Pink Floyd and
classic Neil Young and melded them together in a crucible of song to produce
sturdy pillars of sound. The album loses nothing with repeated listens. In fact
it seems to continually unfold, revealing a profound opening musical statement
from one of the most promising musicians on the scene today. Do the sounds of
cranky digital guitars and endless loops of other people’s samples leaving you
cold? Take two Gentle Spirits and call me in the morning.
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