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LP
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FTR 624LP
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Limited restock, last copies. "Another wonderful album by this Swedish-based guitarist/carpenter. This is the fourth (and I believe final, at least for now) addition to Collin's series of site-based outdoor recordings. The first three (FTR 399LP, FTR 418LP, and FTR 534LP) were stellar examples of Jon's finger-thinking, and this one is as well. He seems to have embraced a romantic form of melodicism over the course of these albums, contrasting with some of the harsher blues evocations he's explored recently. And as much as I enjoy everything Jon plays, there is something very special and satisfying about his more overt beauty-motion. There are four compact pieces on the first side. These have a certain hint of John Renbourn's attack, but with a more harmonically scrambled bent and a soupçon of the quiet, wordless vocalizing Collin has added to other tunes in the Water & Rock sequence. As has been noted, these share a bit of conceptual similarity to Loren Connors's earliest solo works, but Jon manages to remove the violence that seemed to animate Loren for a while. Perhaps one distinction is the setting for the recordings themselves -- near the water, outdoors in the sunlight of Stockholm, rather than in a freezing, abandoned warehouse in New Haven -- but I do not want to infer that either of these artists is unable to transcend physical realities in quest of sonic truth. Still, it's a question I might ask them both. There's some slide work in evidence here, but it's balanced by plenty of finger picking. And each of the four pieces on side one (all entitled "Nothing") has a distinct approach to sustained tones, some of which evoke memories of Fahey for me. The long piece on the flip is called "The Stream of the Consciousness (Prelude)," and it's lovely through-and-through. Melodies are slowly unbound and savored before they gradually mutate into new aural visions or gentle, exploratory splendor. The only thing missing is your own big fat head! Hop to!" --Byron Coley, 2022
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LP
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FTR 534LP
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"A single LP compiles another two installments in the Water & Rock Music series by Jon Collin, UK ex-pat guitarist currently based in Sweden. Once again, Collin has put together a riveting set of acoustic guitar pieces, these recorded around Stockholm between April and October, 2018. There is a wistful, bluesy quality to the playing and inventions here. John Fahey once told me that blues was 'about anger.' But this work seems suffused with delicately scrambling melancholia, like a tangle of vines trying to reach for a breath of sunlight. Sometimes this attempt is rewarded, other times it just turns back on itself for further rumination. Which I guess is really just another kind of reward. Interestingly, while the playing here is nothing like Loren Connors's, Collin begins to vocalize along with his guitar lines in places. He also employs a good bit of rough string sliding, both of which were features of Connors's very early work. This suggests they two share parallels in terms of thinking that are deeper than mere style. Jon's melodic inventions remain as open-ended as they have ever been, but he has begun to add an extra chiming element ay the end of some lines. It almost sounds like he's using a small harp, but I'm guessing it is not. Just another stone in the path Jon Collin is following, ever deeper into the forest of his imagination. His most gorgeous album yet." --Byron Coley, 2020
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LP
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FTR 418LP
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"The second volume of Water and Rock Music by British guitarist Jon Collin is another solid gambol in the outdoors. For much of this it sounds almost as though Mr. Collin is wearing a pair of hip waders and is up to his ass in a stream, casting for notes the way Hemingway casted for trout. His string bending recalls Loren Connors at points, but he has a manual approach to filigree Loren has never displayed. Notes bend and hover, but they also flutter, and the combination of sounds is not quite like anything that's preceded it. Some listeners have noted that the environmental sounds put them in mind of new age string pluckers, but Collin's compositions do not fall into the trap of needing to resolve melodic quandaries, or making gestures that chase after standard forms of beauty. Jon's music works as a series of comments on sound and questions about the physical space in which it's created, but like any good philosopher he knows when to leave a sense of mystery hanging in the air. There is plenty of sweetness to the playing here, whether he's strolling through a playground, standing in the middle of a busy street, or sitting the flight path of an airport. The music never seems dictated by the background sounds, so much as it encourages us to consider every part of the sonic construction to be heard as music (in the Cage-ian sense). The elements become a part of the greater whole in a seamless way. And the closer you listen the more that becomes clear. I am still most struck by (at least what sounds like) the 'stream' sequences. But that's just because I really like the visuals it conjures up. You may find different personal sweet spots. But find them you will. Water and Rock Music Volume II is a truly ear-opening spin." --Byron Coley, 2019 Edition of 250.
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FTR 399LP
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"The fifth LP by English guitarist Jon Collin is also his first U.S. release. Jon first came to our attention when he started the Winebox Press label. This fairly nuts project involved choosing a wooden object (like a wine box or door) from which to create cases (some of them quite complex) for cassettes he released. The size of the edition was determined by the number of the packages he was able to create from the original object, and the label's creations were pretty amazing. Some of his early bands, like Whole Voyald Infinite Light and the Serfs were documented, along with artists like the Hunter Graccus, Chora and Taming Power. Eventually he began to issue solo recordings, and they sounded as brilliant as they looked. This led to occasional U.S. tours, interest from other labels and a worldwide explosion of all things JON COLLIN. Well, that's not all really true. But the basics are. Collin is a wonderful player, incorporating the distention of Loren Connors alongside the blues figures of Jack Rose and the lyrical melodicism of Robbie Basho. He can also throw in blurts that are pure Derek Bailey to throw the punters off, but that's his business. This new album (which will be followed in a few months by Volume 2) is a lovely example of his most evolved beauty-moves, riven with hairs and rivers of discord, but generally dedicated to expanding (rather than collapsing) the head of anyone who will take the time to listen. Make time for it. You will be copiously rewarded." --Byron Coley, 2018 Edition of 250.
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LP
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ROWF 041LP
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"The most obvious influence on [Collin's] playing seems to be Loren Connors. He manifests the same strange bluesy attack on strings at many moments here -- letting notes breathe for a while, then strangling them until they squeak shut. One also notes some of Fahey's long open slide chords, but clearly his melodic resolutions are closer to Fahey's late period work, even if his technique is more reminiscent of Fare Forward Voyagers or something. There is also a scent of Jim O'Rourke's brilliant acoustic responses to questions posed by Derek Bailey. Indeed, while this might seem to be heady company for a guy recording his debut LP, I feel as though the comparisons fit." --Byron Coley; Following the release of his incredible debut LP on Winebox Press, Jon Collin took to the road in the U.S. alongside fellow soul travelers Yek Koo, Chalaque and Zaimph. The highpoint (in myriad senses) came on a Monday night in Albany, NY, where Collin performed to a seated and incredibly blazed audience in the basement of The Helderberg House, where he ended a night of heavy reverie with a blasted, drawn-out, super-sparse set of creaking drum stool and glorious string tone flashes. All in attendance were mesmerized and utterly rapturous as each piece concluded -- staggered by the weight of what they were witnessing and for which they had not been prepared by the endless craft ale, pizza and bongloads. There's something of the magical about this record. Limited to 250 copies on 140 gram vinyl.
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