MATTHEW J. ROLIN
“Ohio" C27
&
GERYCZ/POWERS/ROLIN
“Beacon" C54
(Garden Portal)


Matthew J. Rolin has undeniably mastered a Kottke-esque command of American Primitive Guitar and has also adapted Chasny/Blackshaw/Weathers’ subtle ambient/noise accents & droning bolsterings, along with his recordings, too. His crisp, fumble-free attack dynamics of an ever-resonant, lone steel string are, without a doubt, every bit as spell-binding as LK’s visionary “6 and 12 String Guitar" - AKA - "That Fuckin’ Armadillo Album, Man!”, and should inspire daydreams for the next century of anyone listening…

To see MJR play on his own has to be sumpin’ else, but it’s the super-trio of Gerycz, Powers, & Rolin, two phenomenal lute-shredders teaming up with a magically hyper-enhancing percussionist, that takes everything you’ve ever heard, APG-oriented, and cranks it to the next fuckin’ level, making “Beacon" an indisputably “Must Listen” release*, which puts “Ohio”, as a companion-piece, on its almost “unplugged" coattails, re: “How the fuck are only two people playing that at one time?”

and

—Jacob An Kittenplan

*I say “release" & not “tape”, cz, of course, it’s been sold out for a while now