- The former Labradford member captures the intimacy and cinematic sweep of American folk music with beautiful, reverb-soaked guitar sketches.
- Mark Nelson's guitar playing has been one of the most distinctive sounds in ambient music for almost 30 years. His melodies are clean and uncluttered, the individual notes spaced apart like stars in a constellation. The generous use of reverb can bring to mind surf guitar, Spaghetti Western soundtracks, and other cinematic sounds, but Nelson's music proceeds more like a long and very slow art film, with an overall impression of eerie, humid stillness. The title of his new album The Patience Fader might seem like a self-deprecating joke, but this is actually one of his more readily enjoyable albums, even if it's a little less adventurous most of the records from his long-running Pan•American project.
Rather than incorporating new elements into his sound, The Patience Fader strips away a few layers. For one, Nelson doesn't sing here at all. This isn't an unwelcome development, as his croaked poetry can sometimes cut through the atmosphere of his music. Yet The Patience Fader also does away with electronics almost entirely, the most obvious technological touch being the dubby echo on the interlude "Corniel." Much of Nelson's most interesting music is informed by the dialogue between guitar and gentle electronics, and a bit of digital burble can be the difference between alluring atmosphere and real emotional power.
This limited palette creates another intriguing wrinkle: this is the first Pan•American album that feels like listening to American folk music, a tradition that also tends to reject clutter and complexity in favor of the simple truth that can supposedly be found in unadorned instruments. Pedal steel guitar is prominent, and when it swoops in to comment on almost every chord change of "Harmony Conversion," it hits the same sticky-sweet spot as when it shows up in country music. Nelson's playing is a little looser and bluesier than his usual austere precision, with more slides and blue notes.
All this means The Patience Fader comes with more ready-made images than his best work, but Nelson still seems allergic to anything that would associate his music with any particular aesthetic. This is most evident in his treatment of the harmonica, an instrument virtually synonymous with American folk traditions and rarely found in ambient electronic music. On "Corniel," "Wooster, Ohio," and "Grounded," Nelson treats it more like a dub melodica, filtering each layer through a gauntlet of echo. It's a tribute to his good taste that he resisted the temptation to wail on the harmonica and conjure images of cowpokes, cacti and saloons to go with those steel guitars and blues bends. But that same sense of good taste is what defines The Patience Fader, instead of the haunting power carried by Nelson's best work.
Tracklist01. Swimming In A Western Hotel
02. Outskirts, Dreamlit
03. Corniel
04. The North Line
05. Baitshop
06. Harmony Conversion
07. Memorizing, Memorizing
08. Just A Story
09. Nightwater
10. Wooster, Ohio
11. Almost Grown
12. Grounded