Bill Orcutt is an American guitarist, perhaps best known for his work as a founding member of noise-punks Harry Pussy, where he made a name for himself for his particularly wild style of improvised guitar work. Following a breakup in 1997, Orcutt took a decade-long hiatus. His return was marked by several changes, the most notable being his new-found love for the acoustic guitar. His next several solo albums found Orcutt aggressively deconstructing the traditions of blues and popular music.
It is in this context that Orcutt’s newest, self-titled offering was released. Bill Orcutt (PAL-048) consists of ten tracks, and is notable for being Orcutt’s first solo electric guitar album. With two exceptions, (“The World Without Me”, “O Platitudes!”), the entire album consists of radically reworked renditions of such standards as Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman”, “White Christmas”, and even the “Star Spangled Banner”. Most of the time, the changes Orcutt has brought about with these interpretations are so significant a departure from the standard canonical versions, that even informed listeners may experience difficulty identifying what is being played. This is a good thing, because it makes these versions both interesting and memorable.
It is worth spending some time talking about how Orcutt sounds on the album. Throughout, Orcutt maintains a fairly consistent treble-heavy and mostly-clean guitar tone. His playing is accented with a healthy amount of reverb and sustain, allowing a certain amount of space for his melodies to linger with the listener for a moment before moving on to the next series of notes. Like in the past, Orcutt’s guitar remains seemingly-permanently affixed with only four strings. This conscious creative decision on his part likely significantly contributes to the distinctive character of his sound, and boy does he ever have a sound.
Although no less effective, Orcutt’s trademark dense barrage of dissonant runs are now somewhat less sonically dominant. His arrangements strike a good working balance between familiar melodic flourishes and the more abstract qualities. Interestingly, Orcutt is considerably less aggressive and his playing is rounder here than it has been in the past, especially when compared to his more recent acoustic output. It feels, and is, different. In our current ‘post-everything’ musical landscape, there is a refreshing quality to Orcutt’s reinterpretation of our musical roots.
While “Lonely Woman”, “The World Without Me” and “Star Spangled Banner” are standouts to my ears, there are no bad tracks here. Everything feels complementary and appropriate, and from an album comprised largely of songs taken from widely disparate musical backgrounds, I consider this a major achievement.
Doctah Jones
