CWK Joynes "LHR Twins"
Irish based label Rusted Rail come up trumps yet again with another superbly presented miniature 3 inch cd release from Cambridge
based guitarist CWK Joynes. The mini album comes housed in a handmade card sleeve and is limited to only 94 hand numbered copies in total.
The album features three lengthy avant folk instrumentals from Joynes, who has previously released material on the Bo'weavil label.
The tracks feature all manner of plucked instruments including zither, prepared piano, cello and guitar. Beautiful folk
tinged instrumentals with little hints of traditional middle eastern folk and the avant garde sounds of early John Fahey.
Rusted Rail once again has sent us some of his greetings cards posing as musical implements, this one by CWK Joynes - "LHR Twins".
The opener sounds like a Mandolin is being mauled (lovingly) by talented fingers whilst zither, piano, cello & musicbox are employed
in varying degrees of audibility. It gets quicker to the point where you could possibly do a spindly Irish Jig to it. Amazing stuff!
'Lay You Down O My Brother' is of the Rose/Parr/Blackshaw/Cam Deas school, an hypnotic steel guitar mantra that never fails to thrill.
There's some traditional aspect to it you should read about in the insert or press if yr interested! A plaintive acoustic finishes the set,
reminding me of old Django R, an evergreen influence for sure. This Cambridge boy sure knows his way around the strings, long may his
precious pinkies play on!
There are 3 instrumentals on here and the disc opens with a fascinating take on what sounds like an Appalachian folk tune played on
zither, prepared piano, cello and music box. It's utterly charming. Next up is a long reworking of the spiritual "Lay You Down O My
Brother" (used in part on ISB's "A Very Circular Song") which also draws in elements of Hildegard Von Bingen's "Columba Aspexit" -
the mid-section of this develops into the kind of celestial elegance James Blackshaw's 12 string playing manages. Finally Joynes rounds
the disc up with a melancholic meditation, on nylon strings.
Nelle abitazioni anglosassoni della fine secolo XIX era comune indicare come “parlour” il luogo di ricevimento e intrattenimento degli ospiti e in tali ambienti, per far musica, sia strumentale che di accompagnamento vocale, poiché non c’era bisogno di suoni molto potenti, si utilizzavano comunemente chitarre dalle dimensioni molto ridotte. E’ per questo motivo che, per indicare chitarre di questo tipo, utilizzate come strumento solista o per accompagnare la voce, si fa uso, da allora, del termine di Parlour Guitar. Ed è proprio facendo riferimento a tale tradizione che CWK Joynes ama dirsi un “contemporary parlour guitarist” quando gli si chiede di definire la propria musica.
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