The days are long now here in central Virgnia and the colors of spring are coming into focus as the pollen haze clears. It is an ideal time to enjoy the warm, homespun sounds of acoustic and ambient electric guitar music and here are four outstanding new releases to explore that more than fit the bill featuring Blue Lake, Jacob Montague, Michael Grigoni & Pan American, and Michael Scott Dawson.
Blue Lake – Weft
Bandcamp (LP/digital) | Blue Lake
Born in Dallas, Texas and now residing on the island of Amager in the heart of Copenhagen, multidisciplinary artist and musician Jason Dungan records under the moniker of Blue Lake, a project hatched during summers spent in the idyllic environs of the nearby Swedish countryside. Last November, I had the pleasure of premiering a track from his then forthcoming new album Weft which was released shortly after the turn of the year so everyone can enjoy it in full.
Dungan performs on an array of acoustic instruments from 6 & 12-string guitars, cello, clarinet, melodica, pump organ, piano, & percussion to the 36-string zither he built himself while introducing a new dynamic in the form of a small band made up of Carolyn Goodwin (bass clarinet), Pauline Hogstrand (viola), and Tomo Jacobson (double bass).
Weft is available on vinyl LP & digital from Tonal Union. The album was mastered by Stephan Mathieu and features artwork by Maria Zahle.
Jacob Montague – Midwest Western
Streaming | Pre-Order on LP or CD | Jacob Montague
After living in California for his whole life, Jacob Montague moved from Los Angeles to Michigan in the spring of 2023. The music on his new album Midwest Western was profoundly influenced by the change of environment. In talking about the album, Montague explains that he took his time with it, working on it slowly between projects and across seasons as his kids grew, even adding snippets of voice memos throughout that felt to him like timestamps.
Montague considers the guitar as the foundation of the album, re-embracing folk instruments that he said had been “collecting dust in the back of [his] studio” including a childhood piano to which he added felt between the hammers and strings. The sonic palette was further expanded by guest musicians Myka Spoelma (violin) and Robby Fraticelli (pedal steel). Along with being a capable musician, Montague is a composer with an ear for the cinematic, and with Midwest Western he has created a welcoming album that deftly weaves melody, narrative, and a sense of place in a way that feels like a celebration of the simply joys in life.
Midwest Western is available on major streaming services and can be pre-ordered on CD or vinyl LP.
Michael Grigoni & Pan American – New World, Lonely Ride
Bandcamp (LP/CD/digital) | Michael Grigoni | Pan American
New World, Lonely Ride is a first-time collaboration between Michael Grigoni and Mark K. Nelson aka Pan American, two highly respected artists known for their inventive work with drawing on traditional forms of American music in ambient context. The instruments they play are ones that have been used over the years by folk, country, bluegrass and blues musicians – dobro, pedal and lap steel, guitar, and mandolin – but they are deployed here to create a sense of reflection on the isolation and loneliness of life in the wake of the pandemic and what the album notes refer to as “the affective landscape of contemporary American life” in all its contemporary turmoil.
In its own quiet way, that makes New World, Lonely Ride quite an ambitious album, but Grigoni and Nelson are deeply thoughtful musicians who are more than up to the task. Their styles mesh beautifully here as inviting folk melodies are stretched out over space and time leaving ample room for reflection in the music’s tender abstractions. It is a lovely reminder that we can all use occasional reminder to stop, take a breath, and listen.
New World, Lonely Ride is available from Kranky on CD and vinyl LP as well as digital download & streaming.
Michael Scott Dawson – Guitar, Solo
Bandcamp (LP/cassette/digital) | Michael Scott Dawson
Guitar, Solo is the fifth album in five years for Canadian producer & sound artist Michael Scott Dawson, and as such represents a remarkable trajectory of success in creating a quietly immersive sound world all his own. While that sound world was expanded to make room for additional musicians on last year’s The Tinnitus Chorus, here Dawson returns to the use of ambient guitar, tape loops, and field recordings to create a sense of nostalgia and pastoral tranquility.
Dawson considers the album a sister to his outstanding 2022 release Music for Listening. I had a chance to talk to him about that record and one the most memorable parts of the conversation was when he explained how he wanted each song to capture “a singular moment or mood – a place [he] enjoyed sitting for 3 or 4 minutes”. Indeed, Guitar, Solo seems to be cast very much in the same mold. The music is unhurried, gently melodic, and delicately embroidered with a variety of warm tones and organic textures. One might go so far as to describe the music as blissful, but that does not quite do justice to how grounded and thoughtfully considered it feels. In the end it is probably best to do just as Dawson himself suggests and just sit with it. You’ll likely feel that much better for it.
Guitar, Solo is available from We Re Busy Bodies on graphite colored vinyl and limited-edition cassette as well as digital download and streaming.
