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LP
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VHF 092LP
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2016 repress. LP version. "Fourth full-length from Jack, an inspired mix of styles and sounds that brings his in-person mastery down to LP/CD scale. Kensington Blues is Jack's most diverse outing by far, with straight ragtime, heavy 12-string, and that sweet, sweet Weissenborn lap guitar all checking in. Honed during endless touring in 2004, the repertoire here is delivered with maximum authority in a series of first-take performances recorded in early 2005. 'Cathedral et Chartres' and 'Calais to Dover' are dense, brooding 12 string numbers, recalling the key tracks on 2004's Raag Manifestos CD. 'Calais' features a sequence of right hand picking furious enough to evoke a dream state ala Charlemagne Palestine's Strumming Music. 'Rappahanock River Rag' and 'Flirtin' With the Undertaker' are pure syncopated ragtime, while 'Kensington Blues' offers an almost regal take on the intersection of Anglo and American trad. The epic 'Now That I'm A Man Full Grown' was the signature piece of many of 2004's live shows, a display of mind-boggling slide invention that straddles the line of east and west ala 'Yaman Blues' from the Opium Musick LP. In something of a surprise inclusion, Jack's take on Fahey's 'Sunflower River Blues' (long a staple of Pelt and J.R. gigs but never included on a record) is subtle and expressive, with a wonderful rise and fall that perfectly accentuates Fahey's beautiful melody."
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LP
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VHF 142LP
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Includes download code. "Part of a collaboration with Jack Rose's estate and Three Lobed Records to restore all of his LPs to print, VHF presents new vinyl editions of the celebrated guitarist's first three solo albums, newly cut by John Golden Mastering from the original source material. Originally issued on LP by Eclipse Records between 2002-04, these releases chart an eclectic, more experimental approach left behind as his technique and compositions became more refined and deliberate on later works like Kensington Blues. Recorded and originally released in 2003, Opium Musick is an eclectic collection with pieces for 12-string (the percussive and dark "Black Pearls"), 6-string, and lap guitar. The lovely raga-ish "Yaman Blues" features Mike Gangloff (Pelt, Black Twig Pickers) on tanpura, and echoes the extended modal work on Pelt's contemporaneous Pearls From The River. The near-ragtime of "Linden Ave Stomp" showcases Glenn Jones on his vintage Gibson in a jumping duet with Rose's lap steel. "Linden Ave" charted a path that Rose would determinedly pursue -- short ragtime and old-time influenced pieces (originals and classics), with all phrasing worked out to a perfectionist standard. The lovely "Mountaintop Lamento" was memorably used in Catherine Pancake's film about coal mining in Appalachia, Black Diamonds: Mountaintop Removal and the Fight for Coalfield Justice."
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LP
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VHF 085LP
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Gatefold sleeve. Includes download code. "Part of a collaboration with Jack Rose's estate and Three Lobed Records to restore all of his LPs to print, VHF presents new vinyl editions of the celebrated guitarist's first three solo albums, newly cut by John Golden Mastering from the original source material. Originally issued on LP by Eclipse Records between 2002-04, these releases chart an eclectic, more experimental approach left behind as his technique and compositions became more refined and deliberate on later works like Kensington Blues. Originally compiled from a variety of sources as a limited-edition CD to sell on tour in 2004 (released by VHF, later released on vinyl by Eclipse), Raag Manifestos presents much of Rose's rawest and most experimental music, cutting across various acoustic styles, but with a much more jagged and aggressive attack than later music. "Black Pearls from the River" and "Hart Crane's Old Boyfriends" are dense, serious assaults on the 12-string, with the intensity of the latter enhanced by Ian Nagoski's roaring electronic backdrop. With subtle tabla accompaniment by Eric Carbonara, "Crossing The Great Waters" is another epic modal journey in the style of Pelt's "Road To Catawba" and Rose's own "Red Horse." The traditional "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" finishes off the LP on a calming note."
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LP
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VHF 141LP
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Includes download code. "Part of a collaboration with Jack Rose's estate and Three Lobed Records to restore all of his LPs to print, VHF presents new vinyl editions of the celebrated guitarist's first three solo albums, newly cut by John Golden Mastering from the original source material. Originally issued on LP by Eclipse Records between 2002-04, these releases chart an eclectic, more experimental approach left behind as his technique and compositions became more refined and deliberate on later works like Kensington Blues. Rose's 2002 solo debut Red Horse, White Mule was a bit of an outlier in the underground gestalt at the time, coming just before the wave of releases from the new generation of Takoma- / Fahey-inspired players. Strictly a solo affair, Red Horse balances the epic, side-long raga of "Red Horse" against a second side of shorter pieces, including the ragged slide style of "The Colonel's Blues." The compositions and performances incorporate the new and the classic with a rough-hewn charm."
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CD
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VHF 092CD
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2016 repress. "Fourth full-length from Jack, an inspired mix of styles and sounds that brings his in-person mastery down to LP/CD scale. Kensington Blues is Jack's most diverse outing by far, with straight ragtime, heavy 12-string, and that sweet, sweet Weissenborn lap guitar all checking in. Honed during endless touring in 2004, the repertoire here is delivered with maximum authority in a series of first-take performances recorded in early 2005. 'Cathedral et Chartres' and 'Calais to Dover' are dense, brooding 12 string numbers, recalling the key tracks on 2004's Raag Manifestos CD. 'Calais' features a sequence of right hand picking furious enough to evoke a dream state ala Charlemagne Palestine's Strumming Music. 'Rappahanock River Rag' and 'Flirtin' With the Undertaker' are pure syncopated ragtime, while 'Kensington Blues' offers an almost regal take on the intersection of Anglo and American trad. The epic 'Now That I'm A Man Full Grown' was the signature piece of many of 2004's live shows, a display of mind-boggling slide invention that straddles the line of east and west ala 'Yaman Blues' from the Opium Musick LP. In something of a surprise inclusion, Jack's take on Fahey's 'Sunflower River Blues' (long a staple of Pelt and J.R. gigs but never included on a record) is subtle and expressive, with a wonderful rise and fall that perfectly accentuates Fahey's beautiful melody."
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TS 12007LP
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LP version. Limited edition of 960. Domestically-pressed vinyl, housed in a European manufactured hard board inner-sleeve slipped inside a matte board jacket with j-card style obi. Jack Rose's full-length Dr. Ragtime And His Pals, was originally issued on CD by Tequila Sunrise in April 2008. "The Appalachian Trail runs 2175 miles south from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, though there are those who want to stretch it further, into Alabama, because the mountains go there. Why not extend it? Trails are made for that. But there's another Appalachian Trail, too -- one that goes through time, extending from unfinished studios in Williamsburg, NY, winding down the grooves of ancient 78s to the 1920s or even earlier, past Stephen Foster's wet dream to a place beyond the compass of change. If you're hiking on *that* trail, you're likely to run into a lot of post-grad Parsifals with inscrutable hair and de-tuned banjos -- these days, you can't swing a cat around without hitting one! But if you're lucky, you might stumble across a clearing somewhere south of Lily Dale, where revolutionists stop for orangeade and Dr. Ragtime hangs out with his pals. If you ask him politely, he might offer you a taste of his elixir -- made from codeine, sarsaparilla, and goat-gland extract -- guaranteed to restore memories that never were. And if you're quiet, he might let you stay and listen to the music: Ethiopian novelties, characteristic marches and parlor favorites -- bittersweet slices of Methodist pie, familiar tunes, at least in those sections where the square dance has not yet been supplanted by the fox-trot. And if you have a couple of dimes to rub together in your pocket, you'll want to purchase his newest, electrically-recorded phonograph recording, entitled Doctor Ragtime And His Pals. The Doctor, who hitherto has recorded only on his own, is joined here by Micah Blue Smaldone (who has been compared to both Tiny Tim and Kierkegaard), Glenn Jones (of Cul de Sac, last seen around these parts urging college students to contemplate the prospect of their own death on a balmy September evening), Michael Gangloff (late of Pelt and the Black Twig Pickers), Nathan Bowles (also of the Black Twig Pickers as well as the Spiral Joy Band) and the mysterious Harmonica Dan (from Pennsauken, New Jersey by way of ethereal caminos)." --Charles Fourier, Tequila Sunrise Records
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