Jay Clarkson - Kindle
Rose Hobart, 2021 (orig. 1999)
World of Echo (London record Shop) review.
Tascam magic from Flying Nun alumni, Jay Clarkson, a singer-songwriter tied indelibly to the NZ underground but whom appears to have drifted a little from the light that continues to shine so kindly on the NZ underground. Just how deep does that subterranean world go... This first time vinyl reissue from Rose Hobart (the Low Company affiliated label who turned out that Entlang record a short while back) of her 1999 solo record Kindle does stellar work in shifting some attention on to a set of songs deserving of a wider audience. There's a lot of key Flying Nun signifiers on show throughout Kindle - homespun and oddshaped, erudite but emotionally unguarded, fragile though consisting of rock solid songwriting - and no little Garbage and the Flowers (Deep Niche period esp). Nonetheless, especially so given its release date, it also feels inseparable from mid 90s Drag City (to whom countryman and obvious point of comparison Alistair Galbraith is connected), possessed of the same quiet poetry of Callahan, Oldham, Marshall... A whole luminous universe of insight and expression hidden in these gentle songs of longing. We were late getting to this and I'm surprised to have not seen it celebrated in a few other spots the last few weeks - a truly emotionally enriching collection. Essential listening for all the Maxine Funke obsessives out there, too.
