Ty Segall : Love Rudiments
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, one can expect the unexpected when listening to SoCal garage rock stalwart Ty Segall’s latest LP, Love Rudiments. His second release of 2024, following January’s Three Bells, finds Segall scratching an avant garde itch with a suite of instrumental percussion ensemble pieces composed to chronicle the rise and fall of a love affair. What makes this ensemble unique is that multi-instrumentalist Segall plays every part. A far cry from his usual work, the record demands active listening to truly appreciate the experience.
Opener “First Look/First Conversation/Walk Home Pt. 1” begins with a cymbal crash, followed by a cluster chord on the vibraphone. Gradually a groove is established on the drums and the vibes lay down an ostinato pattern over various improvised fills. The piece conveys the sense of excitement that brews inside at the possibility of new love. Soon, the groove yields to an exchange between the vibes and drums, with licks flying back and forth until it is much like the polyphony of a Dixieland band. This could symbolize the inner monologue that goes through one’s head at the beginning stages of a new relationship, where one ponders both about the future ahead, and how to learn from their past mistakes.
This track flows directly into the second movement of the suite, “Getting Ready/Arrival/The Dance Dance/Walk Home Pt. II/First Touch.” This segment opens with shakers, mimicking the sounds of one one primping before a date. Suddenly a kick drum enters, much like knocking on a front door. Just as this theme feels like it’s almost fully developed, Segall pulls the rug out from underneath and a new dance groove takes its place, complete with reverb and electronic drums that lend the music a club aesthetic. The dance rhythms suddenly fade into the peaceful ringing of cymbals. Various bells and wood blocks enter over this metallic bed, conjuring an image of a couple walking together through a wooded path at night. With the clinking of some metallic auxiliary percussion instruments, seemingly emblematic of jingling keys, the listener is thrown into a timpani laden post-dance make-out session.
“Honeymoon/Life/Confrontation/Argument/Separation/Realization” is the third movement. It commences with a Latin groove, the club vibes from the previous movement return, and all seems right with the world. Abruptly Segall switches to a deep-pocket funk groove with a repeated figure on the vibes, symbolizing the monotony of day-to-day life once the initial thrill of a new relationship has waned. Soon, a new motif is introduced on a xylophone. While this new mantra is repeated ad nauseam, a cacophony of bombastic drum fills drown it out, eventually fading into the distance. Both the battle and the war have subsided and life must begin anew.
The saga closes with “Love Rudiments,” a beautiful composition that showcases Segall’s mallet percussion chops. Its sparseness conveys a feeling of hope, clarity and the tenacity to face another day. This record presents a unique challenge to preconceptions of who he is as an artist, and listeners from the jazz and classical music worlds ought to take notice.
Label: Drag City
Year: 2024
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