Matt Stevens – Ghost

I warned you a while back of the new album of Matt that’s out, and since I’ve dragged my feet a bit in sitting down to some reviewing.

Well, if you’re asking, who is he, I reviewed his debut album, Echo, almost a year back. And since then this man has put the moves on the freeconomy movement in music, getting reviewed all over the blogosphere and serious online music sites (think GuitarPlayer.com), making the lines buzz with downloads of his albums, and generally building a solid community of disciples through his Free Sunday Noodles, his mailing list and online community.

(Download the album here, on the pay-what-you-want, share-it-with-your-friends-freeconomy-model, but I suggest you give the man some money for his effort)

So what’s different from Echo, that in its own way dripped with indie-savvy and I-used-to-be-a-metal-head-but-lost-my-band-driven acoustic guitar angst, like found on Alice in Chains Unplugged? The observations I made then, which I since came to regret, was because the more I listened to the man, about his picking style, and all other stuff, I couldn’t see vision yet. Why do I now willingly eat my words? Well, because in Ghost, he shows us where he’s been aiming. He shows where his lack of resources on the first album, forced him to go, then, but now, with some serious production, and a bird flipped to the purist-loop-guitar-only-oh-my-word-you-can’t-use-pedals-or-have-drums-or-overdubs-oh-how-could-you-you-traitor-community and made and album or trippy, dark, solid, music.

On Echo our man Matt was rhythm-guitar heavy, which is cool, especially if you only have your acoustic to cover all the basis, leaving us with a folksy after-taste, rock sensibilities and white jazz lead. On Ghost, Matt seems older, more mature, more relaxed. Maybe it has to do with his back injury that’s left him blogging from the flatness of his back, playing guitar by the sounds of it, propped up against pillows and such art-making discomforts. Imagine Dave Matthews doing his solo album “Some Devil”. Same guy, different hair-style.

His arpeggio-style becomes more pronounced, forming the base of a more trippy feel, ambient and less jumpy. Not to mention the uncountable time-signatures the man employs. Let’s say he does  that intentionally, just for the sake of the review. It’s hard to believe someone planning a 7 and 2/3 / 4 beat, though. Not really on there, but sounds like it. Now what makes that even more impressive is that he manages to flow his songs through unusual time-signatures, without letting the listener feel that weird sense of discomfort a Frank Zappy for instance left you with, or even Dave Matthews Band sometimes, where you find it hard to drum along on your car’s dashboard as you’re desperately trying to find the base and back beat.

Before I get into the songs themselves: what has really worked well for him, and I must confess I was afraid that he’d loose his “purity” as well, is his employment of bass, drums, sound-effects, serious awesome pedals and production. He has catapulted his sound into the sphere of serious alternative jazz, ambient, whatever. Serious music. Stop what you’re doing and ask some next to you – who’s THAT? – serious. All of us lucky enough to have discovered this man early on on last.fm, myspace, twitter, etc, and have managed to exchange some pleasantries, are gonna hold onto those memories as name-drop-opportunities of note, for one day at a cocktail bar. We’re gonna say stuff like: yah, me and Matt go way back, to the beginning of social media, like, when he was like struggling along, but we haven’t been speaking much lately, with him doing his world tour and all.

Do I sound like I’m kissing butt yet? Well, if not I’m gonna try harder, because I want a signed copy of this CD.

The songs I’m gonna review just on feel and try and leave my own thoughts on playing aside, because, actually, he’s a better player than I am.

Into the Sea

It starts like a continuation of Echo, loop solid, arpeggio, lead signatures, feeling nostalgic with just a bit of diminished 5th paranoia creeping in. Than in the background you detect a very distinct sound of looped beat, and…. a shaker? Mmm, he’s leading you into his new style gently. The tune starts taking on a rock feel, you can tap your feet, still nicely layered loop-stuff, but with a hard rock feel, but acoustic and all. But, not having listened to it closely, you might still feel, ok, I remember this…. Ok, but still looking for the new feel.

Big Sky

No matter what you might say about American prime-time, –7th-Heaven, goodie-2-shoes drama and sitcom, they often have the most catchy folk-country-guitar soundtracks, with the most intense feel-good factor you can imagine. Enter Big Sky. I solid jangling rhythm, great upbeat riff, modular mad runs, but maintaining an awesome happy, I-can-do-this, let’s-close-the-movie-out-with-this-song-feel. It’s the first time I’ve heard Matt play a relatively happy song. The pain-killers for his back must’ve been working. Still, a great loop-guitar-tune. Given the opportunity I can write some lyrics for my church’s worship on this. It just won’t sound as cool. Ok, and enter lots more sound-effects, ending in a heroin-like daze of guitar sound.

Eleven

Glockenspiel!!! Ok, the first very obvious use of another instrument (or maybe he has a glock-sound-pedal). Again, arpeggio, jazz guitar feel lead and tone. Beautiful fast repetitive arpeggio and hook keeps you listening. You think – I’ll use this as a sound-track to my new flash-website.

Draw

Ok, drums and bass. It’s here. 70’s cop movie, fly-over view of the city of San Francisco. That’s what I’m thinking when I hear this. Did the man have funk in his arsenal? I didn’t realize. Oh, no, I was mistaken, it’s just the bass, it falls back into atmospheric soundscaping. Or no, it’s back at beatsy goodness. My first criticism arrives – purely subjective – I wouldn’t mind him getting another tone for his acoustic lead. The song takes us to a multi-layered totally trippy ending.

Burnt out Car

1979, Smashing Pumpkins. The very first thing that I think. Then, what inspired him to name a relatively happy song after a wreck? Well, it takes nothing away from the tune. Great, folksy, jazzy, feel-good, guitar basics. For him basic anyways. Great catchy vibes. And the obligatory signature arpeggio break, with some strange chord-progressions, showing his love for prog rock.

Lake Man 

There’s a South African guitar-maestro, Mauritz Lotz, that brought out an album in the 90’s called “Earth Tones”. To date, in my mind, an album that’ll make the Satriani’s of the world sit up and take notice. He’s cut from that virtuoso cloth, but who respect the silences between notes.  This is what I thought when I heard this. A beautiful tune, with drum loops bass and just a simple, beautiful melody. Restricted and stripped of the desire to impress with fast-running leads. Just a really, eerie, beautiful song.  Read your Michael Connelly books while listening to this. You’ll break up with your girl-friend just to be able to listen to this with your whole mind. (Hehe, ok, that’s a bit too much, but it’s a cool thought). Love the way he’s started playing around with pedals. A tad worried about the guitar-body and fret-board noise one can hear. He seems to be heavy on his fret-board. Some residual noise suggests he plucks really hard. The engineer must watch out for that. Other than that, class song.

Glide

Again, some folksy, major-chord wholesomeness. And a bell or glock. One of those tunes you play on your guitar to make a girl fall in love with you. It says you’re a guitarist that doesn’t just drink beer and hang out with drummers, you’re sensitive. And all the guys say nothing, cuz they actually love this tune and have it on their ipod. It makes you smile. It’s a great tune. Catchier than a cold in a crowded elevator.

8.19

Ok, that shuffle rhythm is to me, one of Matt’s thumb-prints. So the song starts as an Echo tune for me. I think for as long as he plays, he’ll write tunes that sound a bit like this. Lucky for him, he could do worse. And then…, at 3:47 he does what I’ve been feeling, waiting for, desiring: the drums kick in and I can bob my head. He’s much more of a groover than any other jazz-guitarist I’ve heard. I just wish the drums could come in earlier, and some overdrive, distorted rhythm electric maybe? One crit – lots of fret noise or frequency distortion.

Ghost

Title tracks tend to suggest which song is the artist’s favourite. The riff does fall into the prog rock feel…. Mmm, some nostalgia, possibly?  Big stadium crowd, black clothes and pyro’s show, with a black guitar and metal-salutes? But then he adds organ sounds, French folk instrumentation, to get rid of that. Does he listen to Metallica as he’s composing this? I can imagine that. But it’s acoustic. And it sways with a calming 6/8 signature. Scary. It is a ghost song. It sounds like those riffs you start to play on your guitar and feel compelled to keep on playing for hours on end. 

Moondial

He reassures us he is still the old Matt, with thumb-print melodic lines, and the glock, which seems to mark this album. The song has a bit more classical influences coursing through the lines, but the signature 5 note hooks permeating it. It’s still Matt. And he’s still a loop-guitarist. Don’t despair. But just to make sure you remember him, let’s just throw some killer drum beats in there.

I’m really interested what’s gonna happen around album 3. He’s done the anthem now. This is the defining act, I think, against we’re gonna measure him from now on. Feel the pressure, Matt. Send me a CD, Matt.