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2LP
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FTR 586LP
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2024 . Clear vinyl. "... The Ohio-based guitarist's artistic leaps in recent years are rivaled only by those of Daniel Bachman, another once-precocious player formerly in the John Fahey / Jack Rose mold who has over the years transcended the idiom to create his own singular, deeply personal music. Rolin's latest LP, the double album The Dreaming Bridge, makes similar strides. For many practitioners of this style, the first and perhaps most challenging feat is to escape the gargantuan shadow of Fahey. Some do this by adding other instruments or field recordings to their DADGAD ruminations; some opt to play electric. Of course, Fahey did all of those things, too. Better still to have not been directly influenced by Fahey in the first place: Rolin's initial embrace of the acoustic guitar was inspired not by Fahey himself, but rather by Fahey-influenced guitarists like polymath Jim O'Rourke and trickster prodigy Ryley Walker. This vicarious influence is exemplified by Rolin's distinctive, at times irreverent approach to guitar soli. While the influence of Walker's nimble 12-string probing is evident on tunes like Rolin's impressionistic '10:30 AM,' and while the guitarist's patiently unfolding, contemplative 'Weeping Willow' indeed recalls O'Rourke's masterpiece Happy Days, Rolin remains very much his own man, with his own idiosyncratic approach. This is clear from the first notes of The Dreaming Bridge's opening track 'Pinhole,' which introduces Rolin's affinity for shimmering, almost choral, reverb, the effect doubling as a compositional element. Similarly, on the overtone-rich 'Drown,' Rolin's virtuosic playing is practically a duet with its own echo, an effect deployed not to obscure, but to buoy. This deep attention to atmosphere serves a crucial function on The Dreaming Bridge, which sparkles throughout with a strident, Zen-like focus Then there are the tunes themselves. Terrific tunes! Like William Tyler -- another possible influence -- Rolin, despite largely working from the necessarily limited palette of instrumental solo guitar music, thinks like a songwriter. This more traditional approach can be heard on tracks like 'Moonlight' and 'Backyard Blues' which follow a compositional logic complete with verses and choruses. Rolin performs these compositions beautifully; as a player he is dexterous and dynamic, with a light and agile touch reminiscent of early Will Ackerman or Alex De Grassi. Album highlight 'Hallucinations' features saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi's keening, double tracked reed work, which at times simulates the sound of two violins playing cat and mouse between the stereo channels..." --James Toth Also features Entourage, Shadowfax, and Jen Powers.
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LP
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WS 003LP
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2021 restock. Worried Songs's third release is the debut solo LP from Matthew J Rolin. Originally released on the inimitable Feeding Tube records in 2019 and very quickly out-of-print, this pressing for UK and Europe will continue to showcase Matthew as one of the most creative, versatile, and powerful proponents honing their craft in the canon of the American primitive (and beyond) today. Cutting his chops in a haze of punk, noise, and psychedelic projects and bands in and out of Illinois and Ohio, that misspent youth can still be heard in these nine achingly beautiful compositions of solo concert steel string guitar. This is true outsider music, easily transcending the tired list of American-primitive masters -- it is ragged and rustic, tired and angry, beautiful and hopeful music for these often-hopeless times. Very few copies of this LP made it to Europe last time so quit goofing around. New LPs from this Ohio powerhouse (alongside the recently released and totally incredible duo record with Jen Powers on dulcimer) are incoming so get swatting up and quick. "While the rainy spirit and homespun quality of Rolin's music separates him from more academic fingerstyle contemporaries, he can't quite be classified with other unplugged noise dudes, either. There are echoes of Bill Orcutt's shattered blues in the dizzy rumble of 'Rivets' and a stripped-down reading of Ryley Walker's freefalling astral pop on 'Neverendingness,' but Rolin's songs never ramp up or even attempt to launch. Instead, they trudge steadily forward. A soft argument between hope and defeat runs through the album, and Rolin presents it with the calm resolve of someone who's probably sat alone with an acoustic guitar as the first of five acts at a basement gig. Unconcerned with virtuosic technique or reincarnating the ghosts of past guitar heroes, Rolin's overcast instrumentals convey the reality of his own encounters with folk blues." --Fred Thomas, Pitchfork "Rolin's talents as a solo player are immediately clear from the first note he plays. If you get a chance to see him don't pass it up. Nor should you pass up this chance to score his first long player while it's hot off the presses." --Byron Coley
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LP
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FTR 502LP
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2022 repress, purple vinyl. "We're excited to release the debut solo LP by Matthew J. Rolin, currently a resident of Columbus, Ohio. Rolin cut his teeth with garage and psych outfits in Cleveland, appearing on vinyl by Shoreway and Nowhere before he found himself adrift and wandering in the direction of Chicago at the end of 2016. Matthew had always been a fan of Jim O'Rourke's brilliant Bad Timing LP (Drag City, 1997), and when he caught a set by Ryley Walker soon after arriving in the city, he decided to throw himself into developing his acoustic chops. Without really knowing much about the history or context of the American primitive/concert steel string scene, he managed to create a distinctive sound and approach to the instrument, owing less to the music's arts-blues fundamentals than to the contemporary players who have expanded outward in all directions from those initial impulses. Playing his first solo gig in Cleveland, opening for Daniel Bachman, an audience member mentioned John Fahey to Rolin, but he had no idea who the guy was talking about! The root-thread of Rolin's playing flows more from Glenn Jones onward, through Rose and Bachman and Blackshaw and Walker and Lane. I feel like I detect a 'Vaseline Machine Gun' urge towards Kotte-esque density in certain spots, but maybe that's just me. Regardless, Rolin's talents as a solo player (abetted only by Jen 'Donkey No No' Gelineau's violin on one track) are immediately clear from the first note he plays. Matthew currently works both solo, and in a duo with dulcimer player, Jen Powers. If you get a chance to see him don't pass it up. Nor should you pass up this chance to score his first long player while it's hot off the presses." --Byron Coley, 2019
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