Amazon.co.uk Review
With
Terroir Blues, Jay Farrar recycles some of the adventurous strategies he used on his 2001 solo debut,
Sebastopol, and the follow-up EP,
ThirdShiftGrottoSlack. At the same time the former
Son Volt member returns to a more conventional band and song oriented approach. The result is a disc that's complex and rewarding yet also feels familiar. Atop mostly low-key acoustic arrangements that emphasise piano and steel guitar, Farrar's usual densely written lyrics grapple with the impermanence of life ("Dent County"), love ("Hanging on to You") and even civilisation itself ("Cahokian").
Terroir Blues is also Farrar's first self-released album (Act/Resist Records), a fact that affords him a freedom reflected in the generous tracklist and experimentation. The disc boasts 23 tracks, including six noise-snippets, two instrumental tunes and reprises of four songs.
--Anders Smith Lindall
Description
On his second solo album, former Uncle Tupelo member and Son Volt frontman Jay Farrar continues to paint outside the worn areas of his musical canvas. The most prominent examples of Farrar's ongoing sonic experimentation are the six interspersed "Space Junk" instrumentals, which feature brief backward tape loops. However, Farrar still leaves plenty of room to hone his signature dirt-road sound, leaning further towards minimalism and atmospherics on this set of songs.
"No Turning Back" begins with Farrar's immediately recognisable acoustic strumming and plaintive vocals, which are joined byoff-in-the-distance pedal steel guitar and clanging, muffled drums. "Hard Is the Fall" hearkens back to the late Tupelo/early Son Volt era, while "Fool King's Crown" is a distorted, bluesy shuffle. Though many of these tunes have a quirky,ramshackle quality about them, Farrar offers more straightforward alternate versions of four songs, fully showcasing his range as an accomplished and creative singer/songwriter.