CD Feature: Jeffrey Roden: "Seeds of Happiness Part 1"

The cynics must be having sleepless nights. An album with many coloured dots on its cover and a title like this one surely can’t be right. But then there’s that wonderful remark Sheryl Crow once made: If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad. And judging from that, this record has got to be pretty good.

Roden’s music has never exactly been pompous, with tender harmonies spread over delicately arranged rhythmical motives – as though someone was blindfoldedly trying to find his way through a room full of scattered pieces of a broken vase. But for “Seeds” he has stripped himself entirely bare, with only his hands and his instrument remaining. The ambiance is solemn, mysterious, mystical, at times dreamy and then again brittle, the deep frequencies of Roden’s bass slow down the inside world and the listener is filled with a strangely comforting sense of acceptance: With the classical guitar, every note could be a beginning, with the bass each one could be the end. There’s twelve short instrumentals on this record and only 32 minutes of music, but it feels like infinity. Despite its purity, the album is remarkably varied and has a warm and even flow and none of the troubles and struggles Jeffrey had when putting the pieces of the puzzle together has solidified. There’s monophonic melodies, waves of pulsating harmonics, broken chords and short excursions into classical territory and never does it become a tedious exercise in technique or art for art’ sake.

Some of these pieces hardly move, but that doesn’t mean they’re not going anywhere. “Seeds of happiness part 1” reminds us that it’s not the music that should do the travelling, but the listener. Let the cynics weep and wail, and allow those coloured dots into your garden, too.

Homepage: Jeffrey Roden

By tocafi