Johnny Bell - FIELD TRIPS

Released: September 6

 In what appears to be his first release in several years, multi-instrumentalist Johnny Bell brings us something rather novel and moving. Certainly experimental in its approach, Bell brings together elements of field recording based ambient and pairs with folk and bluegrass motifs with beautiful results. While the banjo is extremely prevalent throughout the album, the combination of this instrument with lush field recordings of the natural world give a certain depth that the banjo could never establish on its own regardless of how skillfully played it was. The album opens up with what is probably the folksiest number on the album, “Alligator Juniper.” It’s a shorter track that keeps a pretty straight forward bluegrass feel to it with some minimal field recordings in the background. But the final minute to minute and a half has the banjo disappear and we are suddenly thrust into a soundscape of reversed strings and odd drones that continues to the very end. It’s from this point on that the more psychedelic elements take over. 

The following tracks become progressively more led by the field recordings and drones while still maintaining that gentle folksy bluegrass charm as the banjo plays along. But the banjo more or less plays an equal part in these tracks, like on the extended “25-Hour Day” in which the banjo plays out alongside the sound of rushing water and the occasional squeaks, squawks, chirps of wild birds. There’s also some kind of wind instrument like a native flute of some sort providing beautiful drones with all of this. “Cloud Shroud” also takes a similar route except it doesn’t give us anything by natural sounding drones until about halfway through. And then, when the banjo does arrive, it’s got some unusual effects on it which are difficult to explain but really ramp up the psychedelic feel of it. The final track takes just about every motif we’ve experienced through he album and combines them all together. For just over ten minutes, airy drones provide the backing to a banjo strummed wonderfully and the sound of a radio scanning through stations aimlessly. A wonderful end to his trippy little “Field Trip.”