YOUNGS, RICHARD
UNDER STELLAR STREAM (JAGJAGUWAR)
Richard Youngs' latest solo work for Jagjaguwar is a collection of neodruid hymns and chants for the minutiae of homelife and fatherhood -- poetic transcendance through repetition and a focus on the (seemingly) micro.
Once again proving himself a master of minimalist composition, Youngs also takes leaps forward as a lyricist on Under Stellar Stream, reminiscent of the list incantations of Allen Ginsberg.
With this comes a change in Youngs' voice, now less pleading, deeper and more assured. In these atonal, spatial arrangements, each phrase is granted the room to work into the cerebral cortex -- and perhaps a deeper consciousness.
"I am remembering now the waiting on time itself. I am remembering now the value of sleep," recites Youngs' domesticated avatar on opening track "Broke Up By Night," a celtic prayer for the modern man.
On "All Day Monday and Tuesday," over droning bass and slow, meandering organ, the grind of the day becomes empyreal: "All day Monday and Tuesday, the room of work, the room of work...
All day Monday and Tuesday, the clarity, the clarity." For more than 20 years, the UK's Richard Youngs has been at the forefront of progressive minimalism, through solo home recording projects; through collaborations with the likes of Simon Wickham-Smith and Makoto Kawabata (of Acid Mothers Temple); and in special live performances playing bass with Jandek.
Leaving a very human fingerprint on even the most far-reaching experimentations, Youngs has built a extensive, intriguing catalogue that just begs one to go deep.