Nathan Salsburg - Ipsa Corpora (No Quarter) [Folk]
- The Slow Music Movement
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
*** This blog post first appeared in TSMM's September 18th Newsletter, where you can get all the tips (and more) first ***
Although eight solo albums since 2011 suggest otherwise, Nathan Salsburg also plays well with others, having collaborated with Joan Shelley, Shirley Collins and Bonnie “Prince” Billy amongst others. His latest album, Ipsa Corpora, follows his recent predilection for long form releases, although despite its forty minute run time there are a number of pauses which break the song into shorter instrumental passages and provide a welcome pause for reflection, and applause if you’re feeling bold.
It’s at times like this - writing a review of an extended solo acoustic guitar album for instance, that I wish I’d actually picked up my dad’s dusty guitar and learnt how to play it. That way I’d at least have something technical to say about the review to pad it out a bit. Unfortunately it seems the guitar’s destiny is to be handed from family member to family member and be used for ornamental purposes, so I’ll just have to direct you to the album’s liner notes for Salsburg’s erudite thoughts on its creation. What I do know is that there is a real purity, shrewd succinctness and disarming simplicity to the measured playing that could only come from someone who’s done his ten thousand hours, and then some.
Despite the album’s thorny, divisive, destructive muse and Salsburg’s reticence to even mention his name - if only the media showed such restraint, not to mention his (our?) obvious distress, the album is folk balm; a meditation on division that oozes calm cohesion; musings on vileness that espouse kindness and a philosophical finger picked approach to the dissolution of decency, tolerance, understanding, truth and democracy. It says you aren’t alone, and although darkness is having a moment there is still plenty of light in the world, now who knows where that damn dimmer switch is?
