Gwenifer Raymond – You Never Were Much of a Dancer
Tompkins Square – Out Now
Although the first track on this debut from Welsh-born American primitivist Gwenifer Raymond introduces things with a weary violin line in front of some subtle field recordings, it doesn’t take long before she demonstrates her picking skills. ‘Sometimes there’s Blood’ is a complex, urgent piece of playing that, instead of a fairly typical heavily thumbed bass string holding things down, rings out a higher string, amplifying the sense of anxiety and menace the track suggests. Things stay dusty for ‘Idumea’, a banjo track played in the claw-hammer style, bringing to mind Appalachian music brought straight from the mountains. The structure of the piece uses subtle repetition and drone playing, sounding much like a tune from Nathan Bowles’s A Bottle, A Buckeye set.
‘Off to see the Hangman, Part II’ feels like a companion piece to ‘Idumea’, in that it employs a similar cyclical technique to build a piece with hypnotic qualities that in turn lulls the listener and jolts them with a barrage of harsh guitar. It is clever playing and a lesson in restraint that takes some players a career to find. A couple of short smart pieces keep the momentum and freshness going; ‘Face Down Strut’ is a Fahey-esque rattle that holds a quick melody for a minute and a half before jumping out and introducing ‘Laika’s Song’, a prettier and more considered travel tune that is so welcome it’s a shame it doesn’t quite hit two minutes.
After a rather pacy banjo tune in ‘O, Command Me Lord!’, Gwen demonstrates her slide skills with ‘Sweep it Up’, a challenging but sweet woozy waltz that takes us into ‘Requiem for John Fahey’, a nod to Fahey’s ‘Requiem for John Hurt’ from his Requia album. Gwen’s tune uses a quick droned bass string and picks a strong melody and beat for one of the most impressive songs of the set. But leading straight on from it is ‘Dance of the Everlasting Faint’, which creates the most interesting pairing on this list. If the previous song was Fahey’s, this Eastern-influenced, altogether slower and less obviously structured piece’s main influence must be Robbie Basho. The thumbed framework is still present, but the rest of the picking is less predictable and, when listened to as a medley with ‘Requiem’, provides a delightful comparison from a player aware of but not constrained by her peers.
Penultimate track ‘Sack ’em Up, Parts I & II’ further demonstrates Gwen’s ability to hone out a melody and take the listener on a sonic journey of sorts (there is a tiny hint of Glenn Jones here) and, knocking on the door of six minutes, is able to stretch its legs more and explore the realms of the guitar tuning. The record ends with ‘It was all Sackcloth and Ashes’, another splendid title and another slide track, this one with a touch of reverb coming through and creating a slightly far out snake bite of an environment, with a softly humming insect field recording adding to the effect. It all brings to a close a fresh and exciting piece of work from a performer who understands the ideas behind using a solo instrument to explore textures cultures and techniques. Dancer is an absorbing, original and varied debut that demonstrates the skill and consideration this talented musician possesses.