Richard Youngs-Autumn Response
JAGJAGUWAR
Umpteenth album from prolific bedroom recording doyen and sometime landek bassist.
A cult figure once dubbed 'King of the Progressive Minimalists', Glasgow-via Harpenden's Richard Youngs' many albums have arrived in a bewildering panoply of styles; from prog revival to no-fi indie-folk and arid electronica. Autumn Response finds him in relatively accessible mode, armed with just an acoustic guitar and some opaque, introverted lyrics. Vocally, the album takes the form of a palimpsest, each song featuring two overlapping lead lines by Youngs that sometimes synchronise but more often meander independently over extemporised folk guitar backings. It makes for a disconcerting, somewhat schizoid listen. I Need The Light is a fine Richard Thompson-like essay - wilfully, aggravatingly blurred - while I Am The Weather sounds like Nick Drake dubbed into submission by Lee 'Scratch' Perry. On Low Bay Of Sky the vocal lines finally coalesce, revealing Youngs' crisp, mellifluous falsetto - the obdurate avantgardiste finally unmasked.
David Sheppard
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