“I have been a moonshiner ever since I been born.”
Driving along an empty highway in New Mexico. Watching the sun set over a vast, expansive desert. Drinking a beer by a campfire after a long day’s horse ride through the Wild West. Right now, you’re not doing any of these things (otherwise, why would you waste time reading this review?) But occasionally, you might like to close your eyes and imagine you are. The obvious choice of accompanying music is any of Ennio Morricone’s iconic spaghetti western soundtracks – but where do you go next?
One of the better bands for Morricone-inspired music was Guano Padano, an instrumental rock band with enviable swagger active in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The late 2010s saw an expansion in “ambient americana” music, highlights including Western Skies Motel‘s Settlers, Suss with Ghost Box, and Old Saw with Country Tropics. Aesthetically, ambient americana draws on spaghetti western, country and folk tropes. But compositionally, it often has more in common with post-rock and ambient music.
Alessandro “Asso” Stefana, perhaps best known for his session work with Mike Patton and PJ Harvey, releases his eponymous solo album this week. With its gentle combination of acoustic guitar, organ, lap steel guitar and fiddle, it strips away all the rock elements of Guano Padano and ticks all the ambient americana boxes. The droning fiddle on “Fading Away” and “The Wandering Minstrel” bring to mind Richard Skelton, while the slide guitar recalls Daniel Lanois’ work on Brian Eno’s Apollo. The middle tracks are built upon a bedrock of acoustic guitar, with some of the later tracks featuring vocals from Roscoe Holcombe, providing some old-time folksy authenticity. I was surprised to find the album ends with “Continental Spazio” (thirteen minutes of soft organ chords) and even more surprised that it doesn’t feel out of place – perhaps a testament to PJ Harvey’s production work.
This album feels like a passion project that Asso has been tinkering away at for years. It’s a lovely little album with a clear sense of identity, crisp production, and a focused, uncluttered set of compositions. I’ll be spinning it a lot.
7.5/10
Alessandro “Asso” Stefana‘s self titled album releases on the 17th May through Ipecac Recordings and can be pre-ordered here.