Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
John Fahey & Cul de Sac
The Epiphany of Glenn Jones
(Thirsty Ear)
A promising collaboration between this Boston
instrumental ensemble and the legendary
avant-folk guitarist collapses under the burden
of hero worship, hellish recording conditions,
and incompatible working methods. A melange
of spartan fingerpicking and Forbidden Planet-
like sound effects fails to coalesce, with
earthy guitar and antiseptic electronics
seeming to unfold in entirely separate acoustic
spaces. The title (an allusion to Fahey's classic
The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death)
refers to Cul de Sac leader Glenn Jones’
painful abdication of his vision of an album		Music Review Index
crafted in Fahey’s mid-‘60s style (preempted
by the crotchety guitar guru’s refusal to play
material the group had rehearsed), and Jones'
surrender to the senior artist’s spontaneous
studio technique. Only “The New Red Pony”
recognizably deploys Cul de Sac’s full
bass/drums/guitar/electronics line-up, with
most of the album comprising an uneasy
John Fahey/Glenn Jones duet. On “Nothing”
and “More Nothing,” Fahey ventures a
spoken word piece, but can only manage
something distressingly akin to the mutterings
of a brain-damaged wino. While conceptually
intriguing, this meeting of a careworn ‘60s
icon and ‘90s psychedelic torch-bearers
serves at best as an object lesson in the
dangers and disillusionments inherent in
idolatry.
published in Vendetta #11, Autumn 1998
http://www.thirstyear.com/