JONATHAN KANE - Jet Ear Party

By now Jonathan Kane has set his mind on working around certain essential structures of popular music. After “February”, the American drummer who was in the ranks of the Swans, as well as a collaborator of LaMonte Young and Rhys Chatham, takes the path of a decidedly “minimalist” rock sensibility, with the barely concealed aim of revitalizing the blues.

Instrumental pieces that dissolve into what could be read as a celebration of sonic archetypes, whose repetition induces states of light, thoroughly pleasant trance. As pleasant as it is, but nothing more, this “Jet Ear Party” is; and, perhaps, at times rather dull. All things considered, compared with the previous album, Kane's new creation ends up falling slightly short, mainly because the rise of a desire for normalization is evident, a creativity little inclined to risk.

That said, if you liked “February”, I don't see why you shouldn't let yourselves be “charmed” by the sly stomp-blues of “Smear It”, by a “Gripped” driven by a railroad-like drumbeat and adorned with guitar lines that sketch desert frontier landscapes, by the unbridled country-western of the title track, or by the motorik version of “Blissed Out Rag”.

Pieces that are not worth the price of admission, let's be clear. But which, nonetheless, can let you spend a few minutes in complete carefreeness, perhaps pretending that rock has never known any reason for being other than good taste…

To close, three fairly successful covers: “THANK YOU Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin” by Sly Stone traverses r&b territory somewhere beyond Wilson Pickett, inventing a delightful, if shrill, bagpipe solo you wouldn't expect; “Up in Flames” by the New Randy, with the voices of Lisa B. Burns and Peg Simone injecting a swaying ballad with candor; and finally “Roller Coaster”, a stretched-out Bo Diddley that invites us to brush up on the ABCs of our beloved music.

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11/05/2009