Think of Spring

【逸品】シー&ヒムの才人がビリー・ホリデイを弾き語り!
想起するのは、Bob Dylanのシナトラカヴァー3部作(ジャズ・スタンダードのフォーク的解釈)+Neil Young『A Letter Home』(ヴィンテージな電話ボックス型録音機によるとローファイ録音)。つまり、＜楽曲に込められた情念を装飾を剥ぎ取る手法で引き出した純度の高いカヴァー作＞。素材はジャズ歌手の巨星ビリー・ホリディ晩年の『Lady In Satin』('58)。1曲を除く全曲+1曲(8)を、アコギと歌のみで4トラックに録音。やたらオンな録音、過剰なエコーが神秘性を高め、ささやくような歌唱、弦のスレ音、朴訥も味のあるギターのオブリガードに強力に惹きつけられます。
(C)新宿店:村越 辰哉

Think of Spring sees Matt Ward take a stab at the great American songbook with a homespun tribute to the great Billie Holiday, or to be more specific, her 1958 LP Lady in Satin. In keeping with his well-established analog vibe, Ward recorded most of the set on a Tascam four-track cassette recorder, and his rough-hewn croon and spectral strumming benefit from the smoky bloom of tape compression. Ward experimented with alternate tunings throughout the recording of the project, and its impressive how he manages to bring bits and pieces of the original arrangements to the fore, even as hes redirecting the songs into uncharted territory. He does not attempt to emulate Holidays idiosyncratic voice, but he retains her restrained cadence and tempo. While his laconic phrasing pairs well with the material, the sparse instrumentation -- no 40-piece orchestra here -- often lays bare his sometimes complicated relationship with pitch. Even so, its evident that Ward is a fan, and hes an astute enough interpreter of the inherent lonesomeness of the songs that its easy just to press play and get lost in the smoky ether. By electing to present these standards as bedroom folk songs, he taps into their vulnerability. Youve Changed eschews elegance for last-call despair, while I Get Along Without You Very Well hews closer to Chet Bakers aching minimalist 1956 version. Arriving the same year as the quasi-concept LP Migration Stories, Think of Spring, with its lo-fi esthetic and ambling gait, is compelling at times but feels more like a lark than a passion project. ~ James Christopher Monger