Even if his name isn’t instantly familiar to you, Will Johnson has probably been a part of at least one musical project you’re a fan of. After moving to Denton, Texas, in the early ’90s for college, Johnson formed Centro-matic, which has released numerous records since 1996. In 2002, Johnson, his Centro-matic bandmates and guest musicians started issuing more introspective records under the South San Gabriel moniker; the same year, Johnson released his first solo LP. Since, Johnson has played drums with Monsters Of Folk, toured with the Undertow Orchestra (featuring David Bazan, Mark Eitzel and Vic Chesnutt) and started work on a Woody Guthrie project (with Jay Farrar, Jim James and Anders Parker) in the vein of the Wilco/Billy Bragg Mermaid Avenue albums. Johnson’s latest release is the self-titled debut by Molina And Johnson (on Secretly Canadian), his duo with Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co.). As if he wasn’t busy enough already, the Austin-based Johnson will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with him.
Johnson: More instrumental bliss from Sweden. Tape‘s Rideau is a few years old now, but these recordings have been a comforting sanctuary for me lately. Tape—brothers Andreas and Johan Berthling, plus Tomas Hallonsten—are at their most orchestral with this release, marrying acoustic instruments (guitars, piano, subtle trumpets, chimes, bells) with organs, electronic warbles, hisses and rhythmic repetition. That reads like it might amount to some free-jazz, experimental trainwreck, and that’s one of a lot of reasons why I’m not a music writer. Anyway, the genius I keep encountering with Tape is their constant attention to melody, their respect for space and the whole note, and their ability to keep a piece of music immensely pastoral amidst layers of activity. The songs unravel and build over the course of 11 or 12 minutes at a time in some cases. There’s a constant (incredible) order to the signature world they create, not without an unexpected and beautiful noise usually peeking or sneaking in from the fringes. Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seg6YSQGAf4
