Stone Jack Jones—Ancestor

Beautiful, simple, talky male voice. Folksy, but with polished electronic tones. Neofolk, I guess? Conjures up images of a shimmering, magical, dreamlike world. A vision of the South that is melancholy but beautiful. Lots of longing after lost love; talk of whiskey, Jackson, the South. Lyrics clearly enunciated and sometimes haunting (see “Way Gone Wrong”). Excellent use of harmonica. Reminds me a bit of Mutual Benefit. Very strongly recommended. One of the best albums I’ve heard this year.

Sidenote: Stone Jack Jones is a total badass. According to his bio, he has worked “as a carny, an escape artist, a ballet dancer, a professional lute player, and even owned a late night performance art club in Atlanta.”

Recommended: 1, 7, 3, 2, 6, 5, and I could go on but will restrain myself

1) *** “O Child” (3:49): Very simple lyrics. Surprisingly catchy. Rich, warm sound, with high whistling tones overhead. Lovely.
2) ** “Jackson” (4:39): Slower, and with lovely female harmonies on top. Dreamlike. Nice use of strings at the end; long, soft exit.
3) ** “Black Coal” (4:52): Rhythmic, repetitive, charming guitar. Fantastic use of arrhythmic harmonica in the last minute.
4) “State I’m In” (4:28): FCC: SHIT. Really relaxed song. Voices gently murmuring in the background. Unfortunately one of the voices murmurs “shit.” Bonus points for the sax solo.
5) * “Joy” (3:27): Lighter, upbeat. Personifies “joy” as a young, beautiful girl walking down the street. “Joy’s a-coming.”
6) * “Red Red Rose” (4:25): Folksy, magical, entrancing. Very poetic lyrics. Last half of the song is instrumental. Quiet, slow end.
7) *** “Way Gone Wrong” (3:37): Talk of hell, electrocution, visions. Nicely jarring notes pop in halfway through. Another soft end.
8) “Anyone” (4:22): Very slow, instrumental start. Melancholy; themes of loneliness, isolation. Electronic bookends at beginning and end.
9) “Good Enough” (3:21): Also slow, heavy, but entrancing. Lovely disintegration in the last thirty seconds.
10) “Marvelous” (3:42): Very simple song, but nice, and lighter than the previous few.
11) “Petey’s Song” (2:42): Very simple, sincere lyrics. Still a lovely sonic background though.

--Mr. Tumnus