Spins: Marty Willson-Piper • Archeological Dig, Vol. 1 • In Reflection LP reissue
Marty Willson-Piper
Archeological Dig, Vol. 1
In Reflection LP reissue
(Schoolkids)
With Archeological Dig, Vol. 1, Marty Willson-Piper (MWP) reclaims his dispersed legacy of songs by reinventing bygone solo and Church tracks. The production aesthetic spotlights lush acoustic guitars and Olivia Elektra’s stirring violin accompaniment. MWP’s 12-string arpeggios twirl around Elektra’s bowed melody as the pair join voices on “Water,” drawn from 1988 solo album Art Attack. The album opens with the sparkling “Tristesse” from the Church’s Heyday and reshapes the intoxicating “Chromium” from underdog LP After Everything, Now This. Solo debut In Reflection‘s “Velvet Fuselage” features dramatic mellotron a la “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The moody “Luscious Ghost” is agitated by Tess Kent’s restless cello. The biggest charmer is “To Where I Am Now,” which initially appeared on solo album Rhyme. Grounded by Paul Averitt’s bass and elevated by Richard Martin’s piano, the fresh version radiates warmth and travels all the way from 1989 to serve as MWP’s contemporary theme song. With flamenco flourishes, a taut and spare version of pop stunner “Spark” from the Church’s 1988 triumphant Starfish LP is a fitting closer.
Schoolkids Records has also pressed a vinyl LP reissue of MWP’s sought-after 1987 solo debut In Reflection. Falling between the breakout Church albums Heyday and Starfish, these inventive home recordings prove that Willson-Piper had plenty to offer beyond a gem or two per Church album. The production is lean but adventurous. Even though songs are founded on what seem at first like dated percussion sounds, Willson-Piper deserves credit for making optimal use of available tools – the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper serves as his alternative to an actual snare drum for home recording with nearby neighbors at his Bondi Beach apartment building. The hazy melodies and chiming electric 12-string guitar tones on songs like the optimistic “Night is Over” are sublime. Poetic prose and glistening arpeggios tumble through the self-stacked harmonies and effervescent folk-pop of the itinerant “I Know I Won’t.” The original version of “Velvet Fuselage” moves with the type of echo-laden mid-tempo elegance that MWP brought to the Church when he wasn’t shredding his guitar neck to splinters with the blinding speed of his strumming hand. “Sleepy Metal Box” percolates with beat poetry, ebullient bass, and a Latin-acoustic-jazz vibe. Led by now-quaint-sounding synthesizers and submarine fretless bass, instrumental “Hamburg” suggests affection for Bowie’s Low. Pensive acoustic strummer “How Come They Don’t Touch the Ground” finds MWP seeking peace and stability while an accompanying cello echoes “I Am the Walrus.” In sound and surreal imagery, songs like “Winter Splinter Box” and the slashing “Volumes” juxtapose key influences Television, Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and the Byrds. “Soft Murder” folds these sources together a la the Soft Boys. Psychedelic instrumental “Traveling Through the Sea of Sun Machines” is MWP’s bedroom homage to “One of These Days.” Considering the era of origin and technological limitations, In Reflection is a homespun triumph of creativity and innate musicality. (schoolkidsrecords.com)
– Jeff Elbel
7 of 10 Archeological Dig
8 of 10 In Reflection
