Thrill Jockey
Fans of the American Primitivist school of guitar playing (from John Fahey and Robbie Basho to Jack Rose and Ben Chasny) take note: The Wanting should be on your shelf. Glenn Jones formerly of the ’90s Boston post-rock outfit Cul de Sac offers his fourth album of solo acoustic guitar (and for a few tracks banjo) instrumentals. Jones’s style of playing is deeply steeped in the melodic primitivism of Fahey and the Takoma Records roster (which he’s studied for decades literally writing the book on Fahey) but with enough of his own musical inflection to avoid being derivative. Jones may be an admirer but he’s got both the background and talent to be heard as his own guitarist.
The Wanting is quietly assured a pleasant jaunt through assorted open tunings and finger-picked progressions. Impressively despite his technical ability Jones never falls into virtuosity for its own sake: like Fahey the melodic strengths of Jones’s songs express more feeling than any flurry of notes ever could. “Of Its Own Kind” is my favourite track here but the album is pleasant as a whole — check the banjo of “Great Swamp Way Rout” and the breezy steps of the title track. Percussionist Chris Corsano guests on the side-long closing track tastefully adding free jazz flourishes to Jones’s guitar. “Tasteful” might just be the proper adjective for The Wanting — it’s not going to reach out and grab you but it’s a solid affable album.
