#tilth

Both musicians are fecund multi-instrumentalists with relatively substantial catalogs in both solo and collaborative modes. Yantis’ outings typically veer toward pastoral Americana, while McLaughlin weaves instruments, tape loops and synths into variegated patterns, some more challenging than others. His excellent Karen Studies tape adheres closest to the Tilth oeuvre. Together, the pair concoct a vibe that resembles that of the Full Spectrum imprint peppered with the rustic wizardry of the Jewelled Antler collective.  Rock Music is their third LP, following on from Country Music, with a seven-year gestational period between records. Yantis and McLaughlin, having recently relocated from rural to urban environments, shift into a more atmospheric plane with this album, taking their self-styled “farm jazz” into the rarefied air above the city. 

Yantis and McLaughlin both play guitar, and there is certainly a lot of string action featured on Rock Music. The guitars serve as focal points around which the duo weave a host of other instruments and assorted sounds. “Earth’s Grammar” features a soaring trumpet line and gravelly chanting, while what sounds like an accordion provides soft chords that buoy “Drift” gently along. On “Jimmie Dale Gilmore,” a looped chorus of frogs becomes an angelic choir over which one of the musicians executes a Ry Cooder-meets-Loren Connors guitar line. A mournful mood overtakes “Salt & Blood.”  Bowed cymbals shriek, wringing notes from a skeletal piano. Eventually, the energy turns sinister with a wall of shredded guitar that collapses across a tear-jerking saxophone passage. The reeds continue into the closing track, “Four Corners,” without the sombre atmosphere. Each windblown note of the sax calls out to the guitars to chase it. This airy game of tag rises ever higher until all sound evaporates, succinctly bringing the proceedings to a close.