TIP OF THE TONGUE 25 OCTOBER 2006
Jason Lescalleet
The Pilgrim
Glistening Examples GLEX-0601
Pic Disc LP + CD
OUT OF STOCK!
Rarity: Absolutely beautiful brand LP/CD set from Lescalleet, a US tape/loop/noise artist with a very personal sound-bent and a recent collaborator with Nmperign. However, all of his already-great work pretty much pales in the face of this harrowing, at points almost disturbingly voyeuristic and emotionally bruising set. Dedicated to the memory of his late father, The Pilgrim contains music made up from the aspects of previous Lescalleet work that most moved his dad as outlined by a letter reproduced on the inside of the glossy gatefold sleeve and moves from Basinski-style minimalism through creepy, nocturnal, barely-sounding breaths and drones that sound like something from the early Nurse With Wound catalogue. On one side of the 12" picture disc is a recording of Jason at his father's side during the last moments of his life, a microphone in his pocket catching their last sad, awkward exchange of words, his father almost inaudibly weak. Have to admit that I found this side particularly difficult going, with his father's words sunk deep in a dream of hiss. Indeed, I can't think of another record that goes this far beyond any notion of entertainment in favour of the personal preservation of life-force and spirit and the process of working through melancholy memory. On the other side of the LP is a live recording from just after Jason received the news of his father's terminal cancer, playing music with aspects of his father's letter in mind, all low, transporting car engine drones. On the CD, we get a further long/exaggerated version of the parts of Jason's music that his father singled out that moves from hallucinatory reminiscence all the way through rage and into some kind of acceptance. It's an intensely personal project, right from the beautiful picture disc with a photograph of his dad through the full-colour deep blue of perfect lost purity on the gatefold sleeve and the full-colour oversize CD/book package with pictures and notes, all wrapped in a glossy gatefold sleeve (by the way, don't slit the gatefold sleeve to get the CD holder out of the package, simply reach through from the open LP side and remove it). Privately-pressed by Jason himself, the whole set is highly recommended and some kind of high watermark for extremely personal sonic exegesis, though certainly not for the faint of heart.
