Rosine, L, December 2017
https://rosine.bandcamp.com/album/l
RIYL: Chamber music, Bill Callahan, Rasputina, stringed instrument pickin’
Mostly instrumental, this record by bassist and composer Mark Lerner is a bit folky, a bit poppy, and a bit classical. In fact, we don’t hear Lerner sing until “Hanging on a Moment,” the third track on this LP, where he bids a sparse, sorrowful goodbye to someone unnamed.
From there, we hear ambient, post-rock-esque instrumentals that come and go like vignettes, at two or three minutes each. There’s some beautiful droning (I really like droning) in there, strings and piano, interspersed with some very punctuated picking–awfully nice to zone out with. It’s sort of like a movie soundtrack, but you have to make the movie up yourself.
I was surprised to learn the last Rosine record was released in 2000–and that Lerner successfully raised well over his $5,000 indiegogo goal to release this one.
“In between playing shows and making records for acts like Life in a Blender, John Linnell, Mark Donato, The Oswalds, and more, I’ve been steadily stockpiling my own compositions, things that are a bit different than the rock and pop I usually play,” he wrote in his fundraising pitch.
This is important–SO MANY established, professional musicians seem to make their own records and release them, and SO MANY of them fly under the radar! It’s a good reminder that if we are called to create, we must–that there’s no limit on this stuff.
Digital Wheat Paste 