Glenn Jones

The Wanting

BY Jason SchneiderPublished Sep 20, 2011

As leader of Boston experimental rockers Cul De Sac, Glenn Jones has come up with a lot of interesting sounds on his guitar over the past 20 years. But on this solo album, his third, Jones returns to his primary love: the intricate, open-tuned acoustic techniques pioneered by the late John Fahey, one of Jones's primary influences. Much like Fahey's albums, the 11 instrumentals that comprise The Wanting are titled much like impressionist paintings, designed to draw out deep-rooted memories within the listener. It's a heady experience, mostly because Jones's technique is appropriately smooth in its transitions from major to minor figures. Blues and old time music fans will also find something to latch onto in pieces such as "The Great Pacific Northwest" and the album's handful of banjo excursions. Above all, The Wanting proves that Fahey's novel concept of "modern primitive" lives on.
(Thrill Jockey)

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