There is still life beyond the boundaries many artists and would-be artists
impose on themselves and their approximation of art in order to facilitate
commercial success and shamelessly gorge on their fame by way of vapid
multimedia hype, and wallow in fleeting fortune gathered from teenagers
emptying their piggybanks in sacrificial offerings to their heroes, before
the newborn superstar’s second in the spotlight is cut to half a second in
favour of the next big thing.
In this post-Napster world of prefabricated idols and regurgitated pap
hacked up by angry young men and women not hindered by the sense of duty
real talent imposes, out there beyond the fringes of the sales lists and
popularity contests, some musicians still heed the call of genuine art,
seeking not money or widespread adulation but finding energy and inspiration
simply in the love of music and passion for creating and performing.
If one adapts and transposes the ideas of Francis Bacon, albums such as
SSOTC can be said to rally against the idols of the marketplace (in Bacon’s
view signifying the conformism-enforcing power of language, in this
re-interpretation the levelling and growth-stunting influence of the
majority of popular culture), rejecting ingrained, inbred and tired notions
of what we, the consumers, should enjoy and buy. Rejecting idols leads us on
the path to beauty, truth and enlightenment - for this project, Jarzombek
appears to have attempted to contribute to such a liberating impetus in his
own way by, oddly enough, imposing on himself rather strict constraints.
Obviously, the difference with the constricting power of popular taste as
previously mentioned lies in the fact these limitations were freely chosen
and purposefully designed to explore and transcend the boundaries of music
as we know it - an interesting play on the Kantian notion of achieving
freedom through submission to natural and rational law.
The album is a continuous, 45-minute piece of guitar music composed of 45
fragments. Each of these fragments, some of them as short as a handful of
seconds, none of them longer than three minutes, was constructed on the
basis of some theme or music-theoretical notion. There are fragments using
only minor chords, odd disrhythmic runs, musical expressions of anecdotal
material and many fragments with variations on particular pre-designed note
patterns (such as expressing a word or phrase by assigning each letter of
the alphabet its own note via a methodical translation scheme). The liner
notes contain explanations of the ideas behind each individual fragment.
The notion that we’re dealing with a single, internally coherent and
consistent album-length song will not hold, but as a free-form
faux-improvisation, the written-out and painstakingly-developed musical
equivalent of a flow of consciousness - one theme or idea leading to the
next, the final destination being less important than the sheer thrill of
the journey itself - the 45-minute composition that is SSOTC works
surprisingly well. Along the way, we’re treated to a dazzling array of
musical styles, many of them rooted in rather heavy guitar riffs, but
sometimes quite pretty, and with mindbending solos. Quite a bit heavier than
much of Jarzombek’s previous offerings, here he is mixing Spastic Ink-like
material (of equal or greater complexity) with music in the style he earlier
explored in the drum-clinic pieces (co-operating with his brother, drummer
Bobby Jarzombek) published on his website.
Despite the material being for the most part very complex and riddled with
counter-intuitive rhythms and progressions, quite a few fragments possess
infectuous grooves or enchant the listener with beautiful melodies - a
substantial improvement over much of Jarzombek’s earlier work with
Watchtower and Spastic Ink, which, although always technically impressive,
sometimes appeared to lack soul. Some of the fragments - ‘Snuff’ and ‘Yum
Yum Tree’, for example - would, disregarding their limited running time,
make for rather nice self-contained songs. The excellent arrangements,
mixing and production quite convincingly mask the disc’s self-published
character and therefore, in all likelihood, monetary constraints.
More than once, I was reminded of Steve Vai in some of his more experimental
moods, not because of a particular resemblance in compositional themes and
styles, but because of the decidedly odd, sometimes silly but often
infectuous sense of humour which permeates the material on and the liner
notes accompanying this album, and certainly because of the fact Jarzombek
exhibits a comparably jaw-dropping level of control over his instrument.
Any heavy-metal guitarist will be able to rattle off a list of albums which
defined the sub-genre in which he toils: Yngwie Malmsteen’s ‘Rising Force’,
Joe Satriani’s ‘Surfing With The Alien’ and Steve Vai’s ‘Passion And Warfare
’ will probably be on that list. In the field of progressive metal, a
similar list of vital releases can be given: Fates Warning’s ‘Awaken The
Guardian’, Dream Theater’s ‘Images And Words’, and, shifting towards the
slightly more obscure, Psychotic Waltz’s ‘A Social Grace’ and Watchtower’s
‘Control And Resistance’. I would maintain that in either category, SSOTC
would - theoretically, at least - not look out of place. Realistically,
SSOTC is not likely to attain the legendary status of aforementioned
releases, and in the case of the latter category of albums at least the
episodic nature and absence of vocals will, to many ears, make SSOTC lack
the consistency and epic flair which would characterise a truly exceptional
and ‘complete’ prog metal album. This should not be surprising, considering
the uncommerciality and true unicity of SSOTC is worn like a badge of honour
by its creator, but on the strengths of its sheer inventiveness, technical
perfection and kaleidoscopic instrumental adventurism, SSOTC deserves to be
noticed by as many people as possible. If there is any justice in this
world, a copy of this release will somehow make it into the hands of Joe
Satriani, who will then invite Ron Jarzombek to tour the world as a
contributor to the next G3 tour. Surely a night of Satriani / Vai /
Jarzombek sounds like a little slice of prog / shred-heaven?
Conclusion: ‘Solitarily Speaking Of Theoretical Confinement’ is a guitarist’s guitar
album. Unconventional in the extreme and very ambitious - a funny, exciting,
rule-bending, boundary-breaking rollercoaster-ride of technically perfect
guitar-wizardry. This album-length dithyramb on the potential of focused
creativity should be on the required-listening list of every student of the
guitar, and every musician seriously considering making progressive music.
This little gem deserves nothing less than 5 out of 5 points.