Not sure what to think of this experimental track

Curt Trisko · From: St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3szJIkmzpMM

Daniel Lanois - Panorama (2005)

It's undeniably beautiful and he puts a lot of feeling into it. At the same time, I don't like his use of the volume pedal and I have trouble finding structure in the song outside a few repeated passage, but that's not a bad thing by itself.

I'm most impressed by how he's able to make the song sound full and complete with just solo pedal steel. That's very tough. When I first heard it, I thought the pedal steel sounded amateurish. After all, Lanois isn't a full-time steel player, but now it's grown on me.

Asa Brosius · Posted 29 Jun 2013 7:34 am

i like transparency of what's captured-string bar buzz, unevenness of notes. the asymmetrical volume pedal work does add a sense of tension- never rests for more than a few seconds. tonally, it seems always on the verge of opening up into full on fuzz, and always pulling back.
amateur is a funny notion to bring to this-relative to the country generally championed on this forum, i certainly get it- but we can't knock keith richards for not being brent mason, or marc ribot for playing his music rather than nashville studio product.
a few years ago i played at the thirsty hippo in hattiesburg mississippi, a few days after daniel lanois had been there. at set break, i heard a range of opinion-from 'it's good to hear a real player again (country)'to 'you should have heard it- best psg ever.'

Curt Trisko · From: St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

I agree, Asa. One thing this track has going for it is that it's different enough from country that a person can critique it without comparing it to pedal steel in country songs. The slickness of the pro players in country is awe-inspiring, but that's not why people listen to music.

I know discussing the topic of pedal steel in non-country settings is beating a dead horse, but it still gets on my nerves. For my friends, whenever they hear a chord or dyad inverted into a different one, they say, "oh, this sounds like country", no matter what musical genre it actually is. I guess pedal steel is a victim of its own success.

I personally don't understand limiting it to country music. Listening to this track, it appears that Daniel Lanois didn't even use country steel as a starting point.

I think pedal steel in classic country is often sublime. It fits well because there's "musical space" for it to breathe and move around in country music. In my opinion, that's all the instrument really needs in most any genre, just space to breathe and move around.

Joachim Kettner · From: Germany

I guess many of the forum crowd would be able to play this, I guess me too. But I'm very seldom in this particular mood it requires to do so. Seems like he uses his bare fingers.
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Curt Trisko · From: St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

You're right Joachim he does use his bare fingers. I saw it in a different youtube video. He uses so many effects that it almost negates the difference. If I had to guess, he probably foregoes the finger picks in order to be more delicate with the strings.

James Kerr · From: Scotland, UK

Deleted

JK.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

It's just another interpretation of what can be achieved with pedal steel. The pedal steel guitar is a means of expressing music; there's no right or wrong. I applaud his improvisation. Without improvisation none of the musical styles of the last few hundred years would have been created; we would all still be singing Gregorian Chants.

(Of course, some of us still are singing Gregorian Chants. Winking

)

Curt Trisko · From: St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

I just did a forum search for Daniel Lanois and see that people on here have already fully expressed themselves about him. My apologies for bringing it up again.

I still have mixed feelings about this particular track. I like pretty sounds as much as the next person, but without more, it's like eating plain sugar with nothing heartier underneath. This track isn't hearty enough for me. In one of the old threads I saw, someone dismissed Lanois' pedal steel work as "noodling around". I have to agree despite the fact that I think it's some inspiring noodling.
I don't say that to disparage the entire genre. I would never call Bruce Kaphan's work "noodling".

However, I'm still most impressed at how he's able to make the pedal steel stand on its own in this track. Whenever my friends tell me to play them a song on the pedal steel, I first have to warn them that pedal steel isn't an instrument like the guitar or piano that carry a song by itself.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

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