Customer Reviews

Western Bell

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Like others, I've been a KJP fan from the start, own all his albums, and have learned to trust him when he throws you a curveball. After several more recent excursions into larger-ensemble music, here he is all alone in a studio (apparently literally alone, since he's listed as the engineer as well). You couldn't get more intimate.

This album feels like a tour of Kelly Joe Phelps's private laboratory, in his head, with his mind-guitar. Some of the sounds are strange, yes, but somehow appropriate to the melancholy tinge that infuses just about everything KJP does. I'd recommend this CD highly to the kind of open-minded person who already enjoys Tin Hat (Trio) or Rachel's.

No, it's not dinner music or easy listening. To enjoy Western Bell, imagine that you are pulled over for speeding down a back-country road in some Red State, and thrown in jail, and your cellmate is none other than Kelly Joe. On your third day of incarceration, after KJP has already told you all the stories of his crazy relatives and the people he's met over the years (in earlier albums it feels like he's doing this), he finally falls silent and just plays his guitar quietly in the corner. And from his fingers, between these old rusty strings, come more portraits of crazy aunts and suicidal cousins, maybe people in your own family. That's what this album feels like: a wordless confession that makes you want to hang on every word.

The title of this review comes from a KJP lyric. Western Bell is a great example of what he was singing about in an earlier album.

Many people expect a certain approach and musical language when they call themselves a fan of this or a fan of that. That's cool and that's expected. I'm a fan of sincere music and KJP has done it again but outside of what people expect. He surprised everyone some years ago with earlier recordings and he's still surprising us today.

My first listen was "Oh boy, this very different and very exciting. He's gonna rattle a lot of KJP fans and radio DJs with this. However that's not his intention." My second, third, and fourth listen is "This music is becoming familiar, and now it's starting to make sense and really resonate... communicate... with me."

Fans of John Fahey, Leo Kottke's atonal music, and avant-garde instrumental music will enjoy Western Bell. Fans of KJP that are expecting more boiled rice should just relax and buy something else.

To start off I am a Real KJP fan and I expect him to throw some musicals curveballs. (and he has) I approached this recording with caution. An entire CD of solo improvised music. Daring?--not if you have seen him in concert and have been amazed at his ability to improvise both the guitar and vocal AT THE SAME TIME but...this is risky. No vocals,unfailiar sounds, and less reliance on familiar forms to improvise within. After basically a singer-songwriters album for his last outing, in spite of my familiarity with all forms of his music to date,the CD advertised accurately,--- I did not expect this. Nothing else like it in his catalog. I will continue replay this CD as I have with some of his past efforts that I did not appreciate on first listen. Why? KJP is a musical genius and he has taken me places that others have not but... is this art or self-indulgence (or are they the same thing?)

Like the other reviewer, I am a big Kelly Joe Phelps fan. I own every album and see him in concert whenever he is in town, but this collection of music is strange to say the least. He is one of the most talented guitar players ever, but I also see him as someone who never wants to be labeled as any one thing, a great virtue to gold on to, but I think that it can lead to some less than desirable outcomes. Like the other reviewer, I will listen to this some more simply because I know how talented the man is, but after the first several spins (and a fair amount of pondering), I am not sold on this album...it's a little out there for my liking.

Well I listened and think this is an incredible piece of virtuoso. Kelly sets yet another level of playing higher than before. I guess I don't understand the apprehension of the other two reviewers how can you have art or music without self? Listen again and it gets even better.

Ok, I just don't get it. This album is full of mindless noodling, clashing sounds, and occasional moments of beauty. Buy at your own risk.

The first time I heard KJP I was driving down a busy street and I had to pull over. I was that astonded by what I was hearing. Throughout my strange and wandering musical tastes KJP has always been a constant love. I've seen him mesmerize a whole theater of onlookers with his amazing playing style and haunting voice. Every jaw in the room slack with awe. I've met KJP,; shook his hand. I was beyond joy when I learned of the release of his new work. I thought, "An all instrumental KJP with a return to slide AND a 12 string guitar. AWESOME!" He is one of those artists that I never got tired of listening to....until I bought this album.

I gleefully took my brand spanking new copy of Western Bell, ran up to my beautiful hi-fi system, and placed it in my CD player. The first track made me raise an eyebrow; I skipped to the next track. It did not improve. A sinking feeling started in my stomach and grew as the CD progressed. Each and every track has a promising start, the beautiful sounds that we KJP fans know and love, and abruptly degrades in to a mis-mash of improvisational noise. It almost sounds like the guitar was handed to a tone deaf 3 year old who is trying to play the instrument with a fork and some pliers.

Well, maybe not quite that bad but close....

I appreciate any artist who is willing to expand their musical horizon. KJP has experimented in the past will phenomenal results. I like different. I like new. I can sit here and say that this album is groundbreaking or "Cryptic, hushed, confoundingly beautiful" as another review I read stated, but to me this album is a complete waste of the money. I want a refund. I want KJP back.

I don't normally write reviews. In fact, unless I am mistaken, this would be my first review. I felt the need to put into words how utterly disappointed I am with this album. Where are the negative star ratings?

If you a fan of KJP, DO NOT BUY THIS ALBUM.