Dean McPhee - Brown Bear 12"
Artist: Dean McPhee
Album: Brown Bear 12"
Label: Hood Faire
It’s odd how some reviews tend to revolve around a single idea, or perhaps a single word. With this new 12” from Dean McPhee (his second release, the first being a split 7” with Chapters released earlier this year), the word I keep returning to is unadorned. The music on ‘Brown Bear’ is in essence simple and elemental - built from a single electric guitar and what sounds like a couple of delay pedals. Each of the 3 tracks, recorded live in one take, are full of an extraordinary sense of space and light; and at times this sounds so natural, and so fluid, as to be of the very earth.
It might seem a strange tactic to hone in on what isn’t present in a piece of music, but with single guitar composition the tendency seems to be towards extravagance, each bar filled with flourishes and flurries of notes. McPhee’s style is far removed from this, instead the weight and mood is provided by the space between the notes. Not to say that this is necessarily minimalistic, more that McPhee seems conscious about what to leave out as much as what to include. As such, the tracks seem to unfold before and around you, the progressions and tonal shifts like shimmering pathways.
The figures in the background here aren’t the usual – this has little, if anything to do with Fahey and Robbie Basho. Indeed it’s a struggle to put your finger on exactly who the influences are. There are elements of Loren Connors for sure, some post-rock figures from Vini Reilly to 1 Mile North; but the record I keep coming back to for comparisons – and this is probably in terms of poise and impact as much as anything – is Ry Cooder’s soundtrack for Paris, Texas, another record with a sense of dynamics and an immaculate sense of itself.
In more unguarded moments I'd like to think of ‘Brown Bear’ as in the Romantic tradition, a record born from a life of contemplative listening – listening to the sound and shape of the elements and the simple fact of silence. It might just be a gentl marvel. Either way, 'Brown Bear' is quite something and worthy of your attention. You can get it over at Boomkat or from Norman Records.
You can hear the three tracks from the 12" over at Dean's MySpace