J Mascis – Bandwidth

J Mascis: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Sat, 22 Nov 2014 08:03:13 +0000

The loudest guy in the world came to the Tiny Desk to perform some of his quietest music. Dinosaur Jr.‘s J Mascis, for years a guy who’s turned my ears red, showed up armed with just an acoustic guitar. I even had an amp for that guitar all lined up, but he decided to not plug in.

So we get a rare treat: a low-key J Mascis, performing emotional songs from his new album Tied To A Star, as well as Dinosaur Jr.’s classic “Little Fury Things.” If you think Mascis draws all his power from sheer volume, this ought to convince you otherwise.

Set List

“Stumble”
“Little Fury Things”
“Drifter/Heal The Star”

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Maggie Starbard; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Nick Michael, Maggie Starbard; Assistant Producer: Susan Hale Thomas; photo by Susan Hale Thomas

J Mascis On World Cafe

WXPN-FM Staff — Wed, 05 Nov 2014 16:25:00 +0000

Dinosaur Jr.‘s early albums (You’re Living All Over Me, Bug, Where You Been) established a specific sound: whirling, layered, blown-out. At the time, it was some of the loudest — and prettiest — stuff around.

Frontman J Mascis’ solo career, alternatively, has seen the guitarist and singer apply his dense, intricate fretwork to a quieter sonic spectrum. Mascis plays songs from his new album, Tied To A Star, on the World Cafe Live stage on today’s episode of World Cafe.

First Listen: J Mascis, ‘Tied To A Star’

Stephen Thompson — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 23:03:00 +0000

As singer and guitarist for Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis presides over a sound that can be skull-splittingly loud and intense, especially onstage. It feels strange to describe Tied to a Star as a “quiet” record, even by simple comparison, but for the most part Mascis’ new solo album feels downright delicate. Though not entirely unplugged, Tied to a Star showcases the soft intricacy of a veteran craftsman who knows when to hang back and decide to pulverize another day.

Mascis has shown this sort of versatility before, but rarely with such straight-ahead beauty in his arsenal. There’s always been a gnarled quality to his voice that seems better aligned with his eardrum-obliterating electric side, but on Tied to a Star Mascis nicely nurtures the gentle fragility of his falsetto. With its light, intricate acoustic picking, “Wide Awake” sounds plenty gorgeous before Chan Marshall shows up to make listeners wish that she and Mascis would record an album of duets. (Let’s be honest, though: Marshall should record an album of duets with everyone.)

In a messy, epic recording career that’s about to enter its fourth decade, Mascis has never shed his capacity to travel in unexpected directions. On the sweet, shaggily swooning Tied to a Star, the jolts tend to come from the music’s simple beauty — and from the occasional reminder, as in “Every Morning,” that Mascis can still let an epic electric solo rip whenever the mood strikes.