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Jeff Parker
Slight Freedom
Eremite
- Cat No: MTE 065LP
- updated:2017-05-17
An album by JEFF PARKER—a guitarist for TORTOISE who has performed in various sessions and groups, and a giant of the AACM and Chicago’s experimental music scene—is being released on vinyl via 〈EREMITE〉!
Track List
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A1. Slight Freedom
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A2. Super Rich Kids
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B1. Mainz
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B2. Lush Life
slight freedom, jeff parker’s first ever solo record, presents the first opportunity to hear the guitarist in fully self-revealed circumstances. recorded 2013 & ’14 in the hollywood hills as he relocated from chicago to los angeles, parker combines the dark tonal palette & percussive attack he’s long been known for with real-time processing elements & field recordings, deftly crafting a unique world of solo guitar music --multilingual, mysterious, alive with extraordinary sonic events, with a sturdy intelligence in charge & a raw homestyle vibe. the record is yet another defining moment for parker in 2016, a year that already includes a brilliant ensemble album (the new breed) & tortoise’s 25th anniversary tour & record (the catastrophist).
parker’s title composition sets the album’s cavernous mood. terse lines & ricocheting loops morph into a gnarly ambient section that resembles neil young droning out over a vg+ copy of discreet music. parker creates a different sort of ambient space in his take on frank ocean’s 'super rich kids,' bending the melody around a bossa nova rhythm into a moodsville tone poem. parker makes an extraordinary long-form statement out of chad taylor’s ‘mainz,’ a piece he first recorded with taylor & bassist chris lopes on the album bright light in winter. twice the length of the trio recording, the multi-layered soliloquy finds parker leaping from the high rung to damn near orchestral heights, pushing his techniques & concepts to their breaking points. it’s one of the great solo performances you’ll hear from a musician this year. to say “lush life” comes with formidable baggage is an understatement. parker achieves instant classic status with a rendition that sounds beamed-in from a decommissioned satellite --burned out, covered in space grit, yet still formally nuanced & beautifully reflective of strayhorn’s world-weary lyrics.
twenty years into the game it’s a joy for eremite to present work by an artist who’s clearly taking his music to the next level.
mastered by helge sten at audio virus. pressed on premium HQ-180 gram vinyl by RTI & presented in a heavyweight stoughton ‘laserdisc’ sleeve. hand-pulled silkscreened labels, dust jackets & sleeve by alan sherry of siwa. edition of 850 LP copies, digital available thru i-tunes & E music.
parker’s title composition sets the album’s cavernous mood. terse lines & ricocheting loops morph into a gnarly ambient section that resembles neil young droning out over a vg+ copy of discreet music. parker creates a different sort of ambient space in his take on frank ocean’s 'super rich kids,' bending the melody around a bossa nova rhythm into a moodsville tone poem. parker makes an extraordinary long-form statement out of chad taylor’s ‘mainz,’ a piece he first recorded with taylor & bassist chris lopes on the album bright light in winter. twice the length of the trio recording, the multi-layered soliloquy finds parker leaping from the high rung to damn near orchestral heights, pushing his techniques & concepts to their breaking points. it’s one of the great solo performances you’ll hear from a musician this year. to say “lush life” comes with formidable baggage is an understatement. parker achieves instant classic status with a rendition that sounds beamed-in from a decommissioned satellite --burned out, covered in space grit, yet still formally nuanced & beautifully reflective of strayhorn’s world-weary lyrics.
twenty years into the game it’s a joy for eremite to present work by an artist who’s clearly taking his music to the next level.
mastered by helge sten at audio virus. pressed on premium HQ-180 gram vinyl by RTI & presented in a heavyweight stoughton ‘laserdisc’ sleeve. hand-pulled silkscreened labels, dust jackets & sleeve by alan sherry of siwa. edition of 850 LP copies, digital available thru i-tunes & E music.
This appears to be his first recording as a completely solo artist. It’s a one-of-a-kind guitar sound that lets you fully savor a unique, carefully crafted world of sound—one that almost feels like a musical dialogue between multiple people. It’s great. (Original Japanese text by Saito)