unread #253, by jason morphew

unread #253

by jason morphew

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Cassette + Digital Album
unread cassette #253 / jason morphew archive project vol. 5

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Streaming + Download

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	1.	head connected to my heart 02:17
	2.	idling high 02:40
	3.	never love the aloof 01:49
	4.	you're with him 01:09
	5.	the confidence of love 02:55
	6.	the KSWC real folk blues 04:47
	7.	the only one i love 02:43
	8.	the living end 02:44
	9.	chair-dancing 03:15
	10.	lost in the hollywood hills 03:34
	11.	hug the pillow 02:30
	12.	not even friends 01:55
	13.	sweet celexa 01:58
	14.	santa cruz 03:29
	15.	devil moon 02:46
	16.	davenport girlfriend 02:01
	17.	it dovetails 03:27
	18.	the wrong book of love 03:17

about

The first time I saw Jason play

was around 1994, at Rudy's in New Haven. He was probably wearing a cowboy hat and boots, his Alvarez slung high on his chest, or maybe playing with no strap, his leg on a chair to hold the guitar. He sang a bunch of songs --- "Waiting on the Irony", "I'm So glad To Be Living in the USA", and a cover of the Vic Chesnutt song "Soft Picasso".

Much of the college indie rock then was meandering, sentimental, self-indulgent, and undisciplined. But here was something completely new and refreshing, tightly focused and to the point, the excess cut away, and very, very funny. The songs were strong enough not to hide behind any musical flashiness or complication --- three acoustic chords and Jason's voice were enough. The overwhelming impression was of someone vastly more experienced, wised up and less naive, more adult and knowing about love and life.

Some artists' vision is so strong that they end up owning their subject matter. You can't see sunlight shining through a drink on an airplane fold-down tray table, or a bleak southern parking lot, without thinking of William Eggleston. Once you've seen Rackstraw Downes' paintings, you can't look at interstate overpasses or bridges of corrugated industrial buildings the same way. You can't paint them without acknowledging his shadow. The sight of a woman with an arm raised above her head in a certain way belongs to Matisse; a certain angle of gentleness and absurdity, Charles Portis.

Jason is the same way. His vision and command of the form are so complete, he owns this subject matter. He created his own world and invented his own vocabulary. As Joe Wenderoth said in the liner notes to "Vaporizer", this kind of vision can be dangerous. I almost died trying to live in these songs. Like any powerful art, they change the way you look at the world forever. Jason was so prolific, as he is now with poetry, he's got hundreds if not thousands of songs that need to be out in the world and heard. I'm hoping there will be many more releases like this.

--- Baxter Knowlton, Little Rock, February 27, 2020

credits

released March 31, 2020

all songs c&p by Jason Morphew.
published by AMANDAVID (ASCAP) all rights reserved.

license

about

unread Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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JANUARY 2024
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