Silent Movies
The supremely talented and prolific guitarist Marc Ribot has graced albums by Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Joe Henry, and the Black Keys (to name but a few), he’s led his own Cuban jazz band, Los Cubanos Postizos, and he\'s long been associated with the New York avant-garde jazz scene. Adding to his already eclectic discography, *Silent Movies* features 13 solo guitar compositions centered on the theme of films. Some are previously unreleased scores, some are adaptations of music created for movies, and a few are soundtracks in search of films. There are intense moments and dramatic ambient sounds on tunes like “Flicker,” “Natalia In (E-Flat Major),” and the sweeping “Postcard from N.Y.” but the album is dominated by melodic and gorgeous themes that highlight his imagination and, most of all, creative use of space. There is an edge to much of Ribot’s work and that’s true here, yet *Silent Movies* is accessible enough to please to a wide range of listeners on the strength of compositions that appeal to both the head and the heart.
"A visionary guitarist, Ribot is a fount of pithy commentary." --New York Times "He is mercurial in the best possible sense and impossible to categorize neatly." --National Public Radio “Silent Movies is a gorgeous and insular detour for downtown guitar visionary Marc Ribot, a dude best known for frenetic Tzadik -endorsed aggro-jazz, wild excursions with Cuban music, atonal balloon-rubbing antics, and percussive ejaculations on any number of Tom Waits albums. The album is a meditative and sober hour of solo guitar work that ranges from gorgeous to foreboding, everything played with the meticulous unspooling of bittersweet black-and-white slapstick. Its 13 tracks were all composed for films—some released, some delayed, some imaginary—and each bulge with a slow, unraveling sense of drama. “Delancey Waltz” was composed for the as-yet-unreleased John Malkovich indie flick Drunk Boat but doesn’t require images to tell its tale, as Ribot gently strums out his sad, kinetic, intimate tumble.” -- Chris Weingarten
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Marc Ribot is the ultimate musician’s musician, the kind of guy whose name is usually seen following phrases like “featuring an all-star lineup that includes …” That’s why it’s still strange, even after 19 solid-to-brilliant solo efforts spanning over 20 years, to see the long-coveted session player getting top billing on a record.