Boulder, CO-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Albert Menduno has recorded several albums as A-Set over the past two decades. He felt that he “overdid it a bit” on his previous releases, so for Ancient Me, he looked to strip back the sound. Menduno recorded the twelve cuts at his home studio using an eight-track Tascam 388, and kept a strict rule that he wouldn’t bounce tracks around to achieve extra layering.
This is quite a mountain to climb. The songs have to be strong--a poor song can’t be hidden underneath layers of instruments. Further, with just eight tracks available (really, five, since Menduno has dedicated three to the drums), each track has to count. You have to write the exact part that the song needs and play it well. Fortunately, A-Set is up to the task, and the resulting album has the immediate, raw, “no frills” feel that he aimed to capture. The guitar, bass and drum parts may be simple on their own, but they fit together well and make a strong whole. Throughout, A-Set shows us how good guitar playing with great tones can fill up the space just fine. He’s not afraid to let notes ring, or let the drums play an easy pattern until it’s time for the next verse. Those old Creedence records didn’t need huge backing bands to sound great, and neither does Ancient Me. Americana/roots-rock fans will feel at home here, both musically and lyrically. These are straight-ahead guitar-based songs with a little slide guitar (“Out With The Old”) and fuzz-guitar-as-organ (“Slowly Slips Below” “The Protector”) worked in. But A-Set pushes the envelope, gently, in a few places, and it gives Ancient Me a nice extra boost. “M Squared,” for instance, has some jazz-standard moments wrapped around its ‘60s feel. The cool chord progression and vocal harmonies from “That Summer” make the tough-lyric chorus (“please find another place to live”) stick to you. The running order makes this a light concept album, as Menduno confronts issues from his childhood and finds the inner strength to overcome them. He starts with the introductory narrative “Out With The Old,”arcs through issues with his father (“The Leaver” “M Squared”), household instability (“House to House” “That Summer”), finding inner strength (“I Am Who I Am” “The Protector”), and finally some uneasy resolution (“In With The New”). Four of the twelve tracks are instrumentals, allowing for nice points of reflection and breath along the journey. And a fine journey it is. A-Set has hit his (self-set) mark with Ancient Me. With honest storytelling and great-sounding tracks, what more could we ask for?
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