In music, not unlike with houses or cars, there are different levels of stripped down. When music is reduced to its bare minimum, the remaining elements need to be extra special to appeal to listeners. For me, Jingles, the mysterious one-man operation out of Baltimore, definitely checks that requirement. Each Of Which is the second Jingles release of the year. The first one blew me away, and it is no different with the second one. Intricate guitar playing and Jingles’ amazing voice combine for something distinct and powerful. His songs sound like they are directly recorded to tape, with the player’s speed unreliable causing the music to unexpectedly slow down and speed up. It all adds to the obscure, haunting, vulnerable and beautiful quality of his bare bones songs.
I am on a quest to figure out the person behind Jingles, but his messages confuse the hell out of me. He talks about recording the record on a “two hundred and six day bender” on a “broke ass Baltimore 3-track tape deck on tour.” He continues: “I had time before the show so I was rippin’ thru notes and papers threw some stuff together like old news and free styles.” This is as coherent as the information around the record comes. The rest ranges from open to interpretation to undecipherable. I never know whether Jingles is messing with me, whether he is an unreliable narrator or an one-of-a-kind person. Perhaps it is all of the above. I do know that it only adds to the mystique and that his music is absolutely remarkable.
Each of Which is out now on Tape at Glad Fact.
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