VA: I Am the Resurrection - A Tribute to John Fahey

I used to be so deeply immersed in the folk music and finger-picking guitar styles pioneered by John Fahey (among others). Somehow I managed to overlook the accomplishments Fahey had made to the genre, choosing instead to revisit my favorites like Dave Van Ronk, Stefan Grossman, and Mississippi John Hurt over and over again. This folky time in my life happened to coincide with an increased proclivity for making mixtapes for members of my family. After a couple years, and some teasing from my sister, I decided the "touchy-feely" stuff had grown tiresome, and I stopped listening. While this was undoubtedly a good decision, making mixtapes for those past forty became increasingly difficult.



Now I would not want to discount the contributions of John Fahey—clearly, he's an amazing musician. But his music fails to resonate with me in the ways a true "great" should. Maybe that's because I've come to listen to it from this point in history, or maybe I'm just not that into it. Either way, I Am the Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey updates his intricate guitar work and makes it a hell of a lot more palatable to me.

The music on I am the Resurrection doesn't seem to be too faithful to the originals. I don't think an album of solo acoustic guitar covers would do very well anyway. And personally, I like it when tribute albums interpret, rather than reproduce the music. The bands here do an excellent job rounding out the songs, incorporating ample atmosphere.

Most of the bands on this tribute are among my favorites of the strung-out folk/southwestern twang genre, so it's easy for me to be fond of their offerings. The Fruit Bats and Pelt put out the finest songs on the album in the first two tracks. Then there's the prolific Sufjan Stevens, whose music I've enjoyed for the most part, but this time it reminds me of the bullshit Christmas music he's put out in the past, and should be left alone. Devendra Banhart plays, but does not sing (bonus!); and Calexico's cover, sounds pretty much like a standard Calexico song. Alternately, M. Ward's growly guitar work is a perfect update to Fahey's style. The album feels a little loose towards the end, with Used CD bin King Peter Case dropping a track amongst some no-names. Howe Gelb closes the album with a piano interpretation of "My Grandfather's Clock," and while I'm disposed to like him, I'm inclined to believe pianos make finger-picking guitar work pretty easy.

It's a solid record. The type that will be good for the next time I have to make a mix for my mom.

posted by brettish @ 2:12 PM