Solace is what some might find in the long awaited solo album from Jean Baudin. It has been in production for a very long time, if memory serves I believe September 2006 was when I first heard about it coming out "soon". However it may have taken awhile, we cannot blame Jean, strings are expensive *insert stale laughter and crickets*.
Anywho, "Solace" was much worth the wait. It is 50 minutes and 12 tracks long but boy does it feel much longer. Bear in mind that all these tracks are recorded on a single 9-12 string bass with no overdubs. When I first started listening to the CD I felt entranced by the amazing way that Jean makes his bass play. Many of the tracks seem almost inhuman to be able to play, but somehow Jean manages. The songs run the full gammot of sounds and styles as well as use of effects and clean signal.
A few Highlights of the album include: Transcend, which uses a nice amount of delay and reverb in the mix to make you seem kind of like you're walking through a forest. It is a mainly high register track with many overtones in the lower register making this a very... well.... transcendant track. It is the first track on the CD and opens it up very well. After the track gets going all the sounds melding together on top of each other from the reverb makes you realize the kind of time it took to make this song work. Everything flows well together and keeps new things coming at you the whole song, without being overwhelming. Possibly the best track on the album, and certainly will become a solo bass classic.
As well there is the scary, and somewhat odd track that is Willard Library. It very much sounds like through alot of this track that Jean is bowing his instrument and not plucking. I am no effects expert, so this track baffles me. It is alot of sound, that seemingly makes no sense until about 30 seconds into the track where the melody comes in. It is kind of what I would expect to hear if I could record music coming through a stargate (what can I say, I'm a nerd).
The most overwhelming song sound wise is definatly Mare Nubium. It starts out with alot of high register running with more silky reverb, that sounds almost hindi, like it is coming from a sitar. Then throughout the entire track it changes around many times from being very mellow to being quite chaotic, and the music coming at you can seem a little much, but sometimes, that's just what you need to open a track up to it's full potential
Quickly on one topic that has come up for debate over the years of the ERB arguements, is, how can you slap on that thing?! Well, if you want to hear fine funky slap, look no further than Krackatoa. It is some of the finest music on the album, as well as the most diverse in it's inner track relationship.
However, by far, my favorite song on the album is "Be Water, My Friend" as far as I can tell it has been inspired by the famous video of Bruce Lee talking about his theories of Jeet Kune Do ( here's the link for anyone who doesn't know:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE) It changes around so much in the song, but is so seemless in it's segues it is a song much like Adam Nitti's Skitzo, or Michael Manring's Helios that makes you say "Why do I even try anymore?". But in a very good way. Jean really flexes his technique muscle in this song with alot of really cool techniques and sounds that make you just say whoa. It sounds alot like Stanley Clarke style music in some parts, but also as far as possibly from that in other sections.
The number 1 thing I can say about this album, is that Solace is definatly the best word to describe the album as a whole. It is an experience. Though not being a concept album is one that, at least I feel, should be listened to end to end whenever possible. It takes you on a trip, it is an experience sounds, and feelings, it takes you over and you realize that music can be something else entirely from what you know it as. It isn't just some sort of way to make strings vibrate, or tones go together, but a way to express your most inner feelings. The album has a song that, at one point or another, every person can listen to it and say, "Jeez, this is a musical representation of how I feel inside."
Definatly one of my favorite albums now. For anyone who is a good learner from listening, this will be an amazing album full of techniques and tricks that you will be turning over in your head for weeks. I reccommend this CD to anyone, not just a bassist, as it is truly a pinacle of performance and recording art.
The CD is only available from Jean's own personal site
http://www.jeanbaudin.com/store.html It is available as a physical CD for $15+shipping (3 bucks for me) or as an MP3 download for $10. I reccommend getting the physical CD as it has alot of cool photography and is definatly a great piece to have in your collection. It says that to allow 2 to 3 weeks for shipping, but that's really not that big of a deal, I got my CD in 4 days.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: There is a tip jar at the bottom of the page, please donate to it! I have a 9 string and had replace the strings for it, I used low quality strings and it came out to just under $70! For an 11 or 12 string bass it can get upwards of $120, just for strings! I donated $10, everyone dig deep. Jean's an amazing guy and he deserves everything you give to him.
10/10
AAA+ CD
