Lee Ranaldo and the Dust - Acoustic Dust

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 18 / 1 / 2015

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'Acoustic Dust' is the third post-Sonic Youth album for founder member Lee Ranaldo. Along with other founder member Thurston Moore, he has since Sonic Youth's split in 2011 wasted no time in starting up a solo career. Lee started his solo work as early as 1987, a year after I first saw Sonic Youth live for the first time at the then Hammersmith Palais. 'Acoustic Dust' is his third solo album in three years. Recorded during a short break, 'Acoustic Dust' sees him stripped of the electric guitars that made his name to a more natural, homely and acoustic sound. It consists of three reworkings of songs from 'Acoustic Dust' along with four new songs and three covers. 'Hammer Blows' opens the record and is stripped down to its bare bones, while Lee's vocal is gentle in tone. When this track does eventually speed up, it sounds quite Mexican in feel, having touches of a Spaghetti Western soundtrack. It gives Lee's work a different flow, reminding me of when R.E.M. downed their electric guitars and went acoustic for 'Out of Time'. 'Last Night on Earth', the title track from Lee's last album, is a jolly, cheerful track that glows like a day getting brighter. 'Revolution Blues' is the album's first cover version, and was originally the third track on Neil Young's bleakest work, 1974's 'On The Beach'. The song is loosely based on Young's short relationship with Charles Manson, most famous for leading a infamous Californian tribe of misfits that ended up committing mass murder in 1969, killing among others Sharon Tate, film director Roman Polanski's pregnant wife. 'Key/Hole' has a relaxed classic 1970's singer/songwriter style. Think James Taylor and that whole scene. As the track moves along, it gets more complex developing shades of psychedelia. 'Angles' is like a John Denver number, but the guitar playing is more complicated, than what you would expect from a track of this nature. 'Bushes and Briars', a cover of a song originally by Sandy Denny, in contrast has a gospel sound. 'Late Descent #2' is another light 70's-influenced number, while 'Shouts, a song of carefully-sculptured structures and hidden depths, has a spoken word segment, which again reminds me of R.E.M. 'You Just May be the One, is the final cover, written by Michael Nesmith and originally performed by his band, the Monkees. It is country-tinged and a lot more light-hearted than most of this album. 'Stranded' is downbeat, almost jazzy in places, and could almost be a slo-core Red House Painters number. 'Home Chds', which lasts almost eight minutes, is by far the longest track here, and closes the album. It is rich and smooth and is almost like a mini movie, a decent final closure for an excellent album.

Track Listing:-

1 Hammer Blows
2 Last Night On Earth
3 Revolution Blues
4 Key/Hole
5 Angles
6 Bushes and Briars
7 Late Descent #2
8 Shouts
9 You Just May Be the One
10 Stranded
11 Home Chds

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/leeranaldoandthedust
http://www.leeranaldo.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Ranaldo

Label Links:-

http://www.elsegell.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ElSegellDelPrimavera
https://twitter.com/ElSegell

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