This is an oddly depressing record. Imagine Jack White without all the energy, just a crunchy blues guitar tone laying the foundation for melancholic vocals with a faint taint of Native American chanting and pioneer songs in the melodies. Arbouretum, hailing from Baltimore, released their 2nd LP, Rites of Uncovering, on Thrill Jockey records, and are not prepared to look back. This album is raw emotion. Pale Rider Blues, the third track, is a searing assault on the mind perpetrated by a guitarist who watched Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock and took the sound to heart.
Being an old bluesman myself, the guitar tones on the record reached right into my heart and pulled on some emotion that has been buried for quite a while now. This is not blues by any normal format, but blues-drenched rock played at a snail's pace. If you are not prepared to embrace minute long guitar interludes and simple but effective song structures, this album is not for you. However, if you think you can commit to an eleven minute song called "The Rise" which is long enough to require a short silent intermission in the middle, than come on down to the Arbouretum, you'll definitely see all the trees.
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