Resurrection fails with misplaced reverence
Published Feb. 14, 2006
When today's musicians are asked to name major influences from the past generation, names such as Sonic Youth, Pavement, the Pixies and Violent Femmes often are listed.
One name that is usually not mentioned is Folk/Americana legend John Fahey, whose legacy paved the way for artists such as Calexico, Devandra Banhart and a number of other artists who pay tribute to him on I Am the Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey.
The sparse, Americana style for which Fahey was known occasionally is abandoned. These allusions to Fahey's sound can be heard, but sometimes they allude more to their own work than Fahey.
The best example of this blatant digression is the track provided by Sufjan Stevens. On "Variation on 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion at Marauder Park,'" Fahey's distinct style is generally ignored as Stevens introduces instrumental mass upon instrumental mass. He maintains a style similar to Fahey's for about the first 35 seconds, before background vocals and bells creep through the acoustic line. The track essentially becomes a tribute to Stevens.
With the exception of those few dissenters who go astray, however, the majority of the artists stick with Fahey's traditional stylistic manner and deviate from it slightly, and only when it is inevitable. Banhart's track, "Sligo River Blues," is nearly identical to the Fahey's original version.
Following the release of the album, two factions will likely develop. On one side, there will be those who will be angered by even the slightest deviation of Fahey's legacy, and on the other will be those who state that Fahey would have approved of introducing innovations into the style he embraced.
Although most of the artists do justice to Fahey, the folk legend's original sound is never mimicked accurately. Although most of the tracks are well recorded, Resurrection often comes up short, leaving the listener to wonder if it was really necessary to produce a tribute album in the first place.