C Joynes & The Furlong Bray – The Borametz Tree
Thread recordings – 31 May 2019
I first came across four of these tunes on C Joynes‘ 2014 33 Chatsworth Rd EP, where he played them solo in a freezing cold near derelict dental clinic in East London; here these pieces, written from field recordings taken by Joynes from Africa and East Asia, along with five other tracks, benefit from members of The Dead Rat Orchestra, Cam Deas and Nick Jonah Davis, who all add texture to Joynes’ inimitable guitar playing and rhythm.
Opener ‘Triennale’ is an entrancing piece that defines Joynes’ style of playing. He is one of the UK’s most overlooked guitarists and one of its most unique; here his thumb heavy picking style with shades of American Primitive guitar plays out a strong ascending melody on one of his old beat up electrics that is helped along and enhanced by shaker percussion and a faithful fiddle line that stays with him. Like his version of ‘Bold William Taylor’ on Split Electric (reviewed here), the tune is bewitching and thrills when the melody switches to the high strings and the violin line shifts slightly behind it. But this record has surprises at every corner and next song ‘Tango Wire 334′ is a sub-two minute ramshackle piece with slightly crazed percussion working alongside Joynes’ equally chaotic and playful picking. In contrast is ‘Sang Kancil’, a quieter and more patient slide piece on what sounds like a slightly altered dobro; here the violin sings again and the percussion, although certainly there and important to the shape of the tune, is more subtle and allows the strings to dominate with an Asian influenced melody.
Elsewhere and another chaotic piece is ‘Hamasien Wedding Song’, a busy layered party piece that has Joynes’ electric guitar sounding more like bagpipes than strings. This is a denser piece, with percussion and woodwind working in a frenzy with violin and muffled chanting. It is a ton of fun and makes you wish you were at the recording sessions. Following that is another tune from the Chatsworth Rd sessions and one that works nicely alongside ‘Triennale’; ‘Librarie du Maghreb’ also focuses on a strong melodic piece of electric guitar playing from Joynes but, where on the original the only instrument in the mix was the guitar, here The Furlong Bray really lift the tune with dynamic percussion and an ace violin part that really changes the shape of the piece. The result is less another version of the tune than two different pieces of music that benefit plenty from being listened alongside one another (do seek out Chatsworth Rd along with this one).
Probably the most beautiful piece of music on here is ‘Gottem Ni Gottem’, a perfectly simple and gentle piece made from banjo and violin. Here the acoustic nature of the piece leaves more space between notes that the violin takes care to shade without overwhelming. The two instruments, in fact, work wonderfully well together and add a traditional Appalachian flavour to the tune. It leads on nicely to ‘Jacket Shines’ too, a rather more disparate tune that brings drone notes to the front of the mix until a super quick tattoo gets the guitar and violin moving with it. It is a far longer and more urgent tune than the one before with more flesh on the bones, but they work together remarkably well.
Also nicely judged is finale ‘Mali Sajyo’, a relaxed paced piece adding vocal samples and considerate percussion to a quietly strong cyclical string melody. There is something soothing and gentle-natured about this tune that feels just right to end the set on because this is an album that takes you on a multi-paced and multi-cultured journey that is utterly idiosyncratic; at times dense in its structure and challenging in its rhythm, at others gentle and spare. As with all of Joynes’ work, solo or collaborative, it is layered and intelligent, finding art and inspiration from many places. This particular result is something that really should be heard.
https://soundcloud.com/threadrecordings/c-joynes-the-furlong-bray-triennale
The Borametz Tree is out on 31 May: Thread Recordings | Bandcamp (LP/Digital)
C Joynes Live Dates
Thurs 9th May: SHIPLEY
The Triangle
47 Bradford Road
Shipley BD18 3DS
Fri 10th May: TODMORDEN
The Magic City
11 Halifax Rd
Todmorden OL14 5AG
Sat 11th May: NEWCASTLE
‘From Here: English Folk Field Recordings Vol 2’ Launch
The Cluny 2
36 Lime Street
Ouseburn
Newcastle NE1 2PQ
Fri 24th May: CAMBRIDGE
The Blue Moon
2 Norfolk Street
Cambridge CB1 2LF