“Down the Line” – Jose Gonzalez
(Words/music: Jose Gonzalez, available on In Our Nature, Peacefrog 2007)
A percussion instrument, by definition, creates sound through vibrations set into motion by striking, shaking, or scraping. Even though the guitar falls into the “string section” (I remember my parts of the orchestra from elementary school!), there’s still a percussive quality to the instrument. Sometimes a guitarist will literally turn the guitar into a drum by tapping out a rhythm on the body, and other times a guitarist makes a “scratching” noise by scraping strings muted by the fretting hand. While some guitar lines float through the air like the nimble melody produced by a woodwind instrument, others wrap themselves around the beat, tying the harmony directly to the song’s pulse. I guess this is where the term “rhythm guitar” finds its origin.
The guitar in “Down the Line” feels especially percussive. Gonzalez plays his acoustic guitar with a heavy eighth note feel, threading a melody in between his quick rhythmic strums. He plays it with an unwavering sense of time, giving the song a metronome-like pulse. It sounds like the way the inside of a watch looks – different parts moving independently to accomplish the same purpose. These different elements – the rhythmic guitar line, the melodic thread, and Gonzalez’ vocals – feel like gears working together to move the entire system. Up close it appears brittle with craftsmanship so precise that one wrong note could derail the entire arrangement. Still, taking a couple steps reveals it as a complete structure – one stronger than the sum of its parts.
More on Jose Gonzalez: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
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