Review by Ned Raggett
Jessamine's second full album continued developing the spooked-out space/Krautrock inspirations of the band's debut, resulting in an attractive and most captivating trip. Cleverly and creatively, Jessamine have clear influences without obviously trying to exactly clone any of them -- motorik pace meets with tape-loop cutups, psych zoned-and-stoned flow hits up against almost goth-heavy basslines. Compared to, say, Bardo Pond's almost punishing heaviness, Jessamine demonstrates a slightly cleaner approach, not really perfectly crisp and precise, but one that allows for more immediate subtleties. Dawn Smithson's bass in many ways takes the lead, not merely setting the pace with Michael Faeth's drumming taking a lead melodic role while guitar feedback, heavily tweaked, floats through the mix (check "Periwinkle" for a good example). Andy Brown's keyboards are, in many ways, the group's secret weapon; while the remaining three can kick up a damn good rock-out storm on their own, it's his extra swirls, bits, and bleeps that often make the songs something special. Twice there's sheer drone head nodding courtesy of him on "It's Cold in Space," everyone else dropping out for a bit to let him take over, with a separate complete freakout towards the end, all sorts of squirrelly flanged noises and burbles creating more than a little chaos. Call it a bit of low-key Brian Eno in early Roxy Music, if one likes, though without the glam. The way the group splits up the opening songs, "Say What You Can" and "...R What You Mean," is clever -- Rex Ritter takes the first, Smithson the second, while the whole is one lengthy jam. "Polish Countryside" is another long one, Brown's keyboards sounding more conventional than usual in the midsection as everyone finds an open ended space and then pursues it.
Info & Review(s)...
From --->>> http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll'opt1=1&P=amg&sql=jessamine
Biography by Jason Ankeny
Drone-rockers Jessamine formed in the college town of Galion, Ohio before relocating to Seattle, where they earned notice for "Your Head Is So Small..., " a 1994 single on the Sub Pop label. After signing to Kranky, Jessamine -- vocalist/guitarist Rex Ritter, bassist/vocalist Dawn Smithson, keyboardist Andy Brown and drummer Michael Faeth -- issued their self-titled debut in 1995; their follow-up, The Long Arm of Coincidence, was released a year later. A Pox on You, a collaboration with Spectrum, followed, as did the singles collection Another Fictionalized History; their third studio LP, Don't Stay Too Long, appeared in 1998. Just after the release of Living Sound, an archival live outing recorded with Experimental Audio Research ringleader Sonic Boom, Jessamine disbanded.
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From --->>> http://www.almostcool.org/mr/608/
Jessamine
The Long Arm Of Coincidence
(Kranky)
What are Jessamine' Are they psychedelic' Are they a jam band' Are they a moogs vs. guitar band with tendencies to drone and noodle on and about' The answer to all these questions is yes in varying degrees, and although this album came out quite awhile back and the band has since called it quits, there are a lot of elements of their sound that fall right in line with what a lot of post rock bands are still doing today. Released on the excellent indie label of Kranky, the 10-track, nearly 75 minute release drags on for far too long during its second half, but has a few moments that will probably please the post rock/drone fan.
The disc starts off with sort of a "he-said, she-said" 1-2 track combination. While the first track, "Say What You Can" moves along with lazy keyboards (despite some very odd bursts near the end of the track), and bass and guitar lines that rumble with sort of a sinister edge before getting a little meatier during the 'chorus' parts of the song. Singer Rex Ritter moves from a whisper to sort of a forced whisper before the track melts down into the dreamy beginning (including rather ethereal vocals by Dawn Smithson) of "...Or What You Mean."
The group starts cranking out the longer tracks starting with the 10-minute plus "You May Have Forgotten." As one may or may not expect, it's a lot less focused than the first 5 tracks on the disc. As it drifts all over the place, vocalist Smithson goes from breathy, dreamy vocals to ones that sound a little more pointed and dark. With drumming that is fairly subdued, yet flailing and guitars and keyboards fuzzing in and out of the mix, the track feels like much more improvision than anything else (and is, if the album notes are correct). "Polish Countryside" runs nearly the same length and is perhaps the best example of moog-core I've ever heard. With growled vocals and a thick bassline riding alongside chirpy keyboards, it's a strange juxtaposition, and one that simply runs on too long.
After kicking off the cobwebs a little on "Schisandra" (with something that sounds somewhat like a track that Trans Am might do), the group launches into the longest (and it unfortunately feels this way as well) track on the disc with "It's Cold In Space." With an eerie keyboard/guitar combination and female vocals, it's the equivalent of its title, but it simply doesn't go much of anywhere and the dry end of the track feels like it should be the end of the disc. There are two more tracks, and although they work better, the group never quite captures the flair they had at the beginning of the release. If you like lots of noodling and very little structure in your post rock songs, it might be your thing.
rating: 5.5
From --->>> http://www.jimdero.com/OtherWritings/Other%20Intuitive.htm
JESSAMINE
In the spirit of Can's rock-minimalist approach to improvisation--"spontaneous composition," Holger Czukay called it--the Seattle quartet Jessamine jams with the tape recorder rolling, then listens back to see what emerged as a possible song. In compiling *The Long Arm of Coincidence*, their second album for Kranky, Ritter, keyboardist Andy Brown, bassist Dawn Smithson, and drummer Michael Faeth weeded through 12 hours of recorded material. Resulting tunes such as "Periwinkle" and "It's Cold In Space" are so good they make you wonder about the stuff that *didn't* make the cut.
"We definitely wanted to incorporate song structure back into what we previously played," Ritter says. "So some of the songs on the record are just the first time we ever played them done straight to tape. Then there are others where we would go back and learn them verbatim, or try to put in a sort of subtle verse-chorus structure. Adding vocals is usually a good way to make things seem more like songs."
Indeed, while some of the intuitive music bands suffer from extremely weak vocal abilities--there's usually a reason for that old "hide the vocals in the mix as just one more sonic texture" routine--Smithson's pure, ringing tones area highlight of both *Coincidence* and Jessamine's self-titled '94 debut. They emerge as a beacon through the disorienting swirl of the band's dense drone and hypnotic groove. Which brings up the question--equally valid of all these bands and answered similarly by most--of how the players recognize a successful experiment from a failed one.
"I think it's just whether we like it or not," Ritter says. "Either it holds our interest or it doesn't. I also think it's true that there is some kind of emotional content that comes through in the best songs. That's what most of our lyrics are about--emotions--and when you listen back, you can hear that whatever mood you were in that day is there in your playing."
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