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Chris Whitley: Rocket House

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: ulftone music
Released: 2001.06.05
Time:
 53:12
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Tony Mangurian
Rating: ********.. (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.chriswhitley.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2002.01.17
Price in €: 15,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] To Joy [Revolution of the Innocents] (T.Mangurian/Ch.Whitley) - 4:26
[2] Radar (Ch.Whitley) - 4:04
[3] Chain (Ch.Whitley) - 5:38
[4] Say Goodbye (T.Mangurian/Ch.Whitley) - 3:37
[5] Solid Iron Heart (Ch.Whitley) - 3:51
[6] Rocket House (Ch.Whitley) - 6:09
[7] Serve You (Ch.Whitley) - 4:10
[8] Little Torch (Ch.Whitley) - 4:45
[9] From a Photograph (Ch.Whitley) - 3:55
[10] Vertical Desert (Ch.Whitley) - 3:32
[11] Something Shines (Ch.Whitley) - 9:05

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


CHRIS WHITLEY - Banjo, Guitar, Vocals, Synthesizer Bass, Synth Guitar
TONY MANGURIAN - Guitar, Drums, Bass, Programming, Producer, Mixing, Processing
STEPHEN BARBER - Percussion, Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Synthesizer Bass, Jaw Harp
DJ LOGIC - Turntables

BRUCE HORNSBY - Wurlitzer on [2]
DAVE MATTHEWS - Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Background Vocals on [2]
BLONDIE CHAPLIN - Vocals on [1],[5]-[8],[11]
BADAL ROY - Tabla on [8]
CHICK GRANING - Vocals on [6]
TRIXIE WHITLEY - Vocals on [7], Drawing
DARREN VIGIL GREY - Percussion on [1]
JILL MOMADAY - Percussion on [1]
MARK HENRY - Programming on [7]

DANNY MADORSKY - Engineer, Mixing
SCOTT CAMPBELL - Engineer
HOWIE WEINBERG - Mastering
DANNY KADAR - Engineer
WYNDSOR TAGGART - Layout Design, CD Art Adaptation

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2001 CD Ato 21501



Few moments are as exciting as the one where it becomes undeniably clear that an artist has made his breakthrough. Rocket House is that moment for Chris Whitley. After a decade as one of rock's most beloved cult icons, Whitley has reinvented himself from the bottom up. Rocket House, Whitley's seventh album and first full-fledged studio recording in five years, finds his characteristic smoky-voiced blues-rock dirges invigorated by trip-hop beats, lushly layered arrangements and a soulful vocal style that invokes Al Green as much as Howlin' Wolf.

Produced by Tony Mangurian (Luscious Jackson), Rocket House is a textured sound collage that builds on Whitley's trademark dobro, banjo and slide guitar songcraft. Keyboardist Stephen Barber (Shawn Colvin, Eric Johnson) joins Whitley for all of the album's 11 songs, along with Mangurian on drums and DJ Logic on turntables. Several other musical friends appear on Rocket House: Dave Matthews and Bruce Hornsby heard early demos of the record and independently asked if they could play on the album, and both musicians contribute to "Radar." Whitley's 14-year-old daughter, Trixie, found a studio near her home in Belgium to record vocals on "Chain" and "Serve You." Longtime Rolling Stones and former Beach Boys backing vocalist Blondie Chaplin sings on several tracks. Badal Roy (Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman) added his signature tablas to "Little Torch."

Whitley's songs are as visceral and cerebral as ever. The primal, eastern melodies of the opener "To Joy (Revolution Of The Innocents)" reveal Whitley's roots in the eclectic sound of bands like Can and Kraftwerk. Almost by way of introduction, he sings in the song's chorus, "Angels, and even devils, too, all await to show how far we come to joy." The tone of Whitley's compositions is restless, but deliberate: "Rocket House" pits sparse guitar melodies against a driving breakbeat as Whitley croons like Ray Charles at a rave. "Little Torch" is harmonically soothing, but is offset by DJ Logic's ominous sampling and Whitley's warning, "They never gonna let you get away / Well the world will follow always."

The album's quieter moments may be more familiar to fans of Whitley's past work. The mostly-solo acoustic "Solid Iron Heart" gives a nod to his earlier albums, and the languid tempo of "Serve You" mingles amicably with Whitley's gruff falsetto. The carnal, ghostly "Vertical Desert" and the ethereal "Something Shines" draw the album to a dramatic end. The unsettling samples, haunting piano and searching lyrics leave a bittersweet taste as the album fades to a close.

Chris Whitley has become almost a mythical character, shrouded in mystery and intensity. His nomadic childhood led him through homes in Texas, Mexico, Vermont, New York and Belgium before he finally settled back in New York, busking on the streets and working in a picture frame factory. A chance meeting with producer Daniel Lanois at a photo shoot led to a record deal. From his legendary debut, the rootsy Living with the Law (Sony, 1991), through the aggressive Din of Ecstasy (Sony/Work, 1995) and polished Terra Incognita (Sony/Work, 1997), Whitley developed a devoted following. His unorthodox musical path continued with the intimate and stark Dirt Floor (ulfTone, 1998), recorded in one day in his father's Vermont barn; the stripped down solo album Live at Martyr's (ulfTone, 1999) followed a year later. Most recently, Whitley collaborated with Billy Martin and Chris Wood of Medeski Martin & Wood on the sultry, understated and jazz-influenced Perfect Day (ulfTone, 2000), a collection of standards.

From beginning to end, Rocket House marks Chris Whitley's rebirth as a brilliant, innovative artist. The album is a culmination of the stark moodiness, intuitive lyricism and aggressive sense of purpose that have highlighted Whitley's past work, and it breathes and cries and begs you to listen. Just put it on with a good set of speakers and hear when it's like when a truly inspired musician hits his stride.

ULFTONE MUSIC - JULY 24TH 2001



Anyone who has the balls to combine turntable scratching and trip-hop beats with banjo playing on the same song — and make it work — as Chris Whitley does on the Middle Eastern-tinged "To Joy (Revolution of the Innocents)" deserves a collective bow-down to. This unorthodox, textured, and electronic-oriented album opener to Whitley's seventh studio effort, Rocket House, sets the stage for one of the best collections to drop in 2001. Whitley's husky, soulful voice smoothly roams through throaty lows and lofty falsettos in a single sweep and is captivating, to say the least. Meanwhile, all things synthesizer and programming — keyboards, synth guitars, synth bass, electronic "abstractions" (according to the liner notes), jaw harp, drum machines, samples, and others — coupled with "traditional" instruments — guitars, drums, bass, and piano — and some pretty avant-garde arrangements further launch Rocket House right into the sky. There is plenty to recommend on this impressive collection. "Say Goodbye" is an earnest and moving blues-rock number — accented with turntable scratching and contemporary sound effects — marked by Whitley's visceral vocal delivery and a haunting piano. Elsewhere, the title track is entirely infectious and mesmerizing. A simple breakbeat drives organic guitar parts and hypnotic vibe and piano lines. The song ends with a series of instrumental repetitions, which inspires a lingering effect. Some artists unsuccessfully try to do this — repetition — and their songs sound painfully boring. But this is not the case with Whitley; "Rocket House," with each closing verse that pulses on, captivates listeners even more; you're still "in" the song way after it's done. "Serve You," in its haunting simplicity, is one of the most seductive songs ever recorded. Whitley's husky voice is layered over moody, dark tones, strategically random (!) synth chords, and a lone rim-shot line. The chorus, "Some day I will serve you/some day," co-sung with daughter Trixie Whitley, repeats throughout, and the effect is simply hypnotic. This song — much like the rest of the album — is like a drug, mind-altering. An impressive roster of musicians — producer Tony Mangurian, DJ Logic, Dave Matthews, and Bruce Hornsby — guest on Rocket House. For the uninitiated — and if you are, you should change this status immediately — Whitley's voice is reminiscent of Jeff Healy, Joe Cocker, and Shawn Mullins in its bluesy soul style. Rocket House is an out-of-body experience, and that just doesn't happen too often these days. Get this album and prepare for takeoff to a place that is like no other.

Liana Jonas, All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Chris Whitley's Rocket House marks another shift for the man whose debut, Living with the Law, was a burst of Tom Petty-esque roots-rock. Since then, Whitley's oeuvre has become an increasingly eclectic--some would say unfocused--collection, one that reached its nadir with the grunge-flavored Din of Ecstasy in 1995. But in recent years, Whitley's been trusting his instincts, taking a more somber, minimalist road most poignantly captured on the Billy Martin-Chris Wood (of Medeski Martin & Wood fame) collaboration, Perfect Day. Whitley's House, however, is in another time and place entirely. Filled with whispering effects and looped guitars, dense songs, and an accessible, modern-rock slant, it's the work of a mature, smart songsmith who's discovered how to get the most out of his poet's eye for the human condition, while going for broke in embracing musical possibilities. Kicking off with "To Joy (Revolution of the Innocents)," the sea change is immediately obvious, as a strange little warble gives way to a burst of serpentine electronics and a sly chorus Dave Matthews could be proud of (indeed, the record is released on Matthews's label, ATO Records). Have a listen to the wide-open pop on songs like "Say Goodbye," and "Vertical Desert," the latter finding Whitley's rootsy voice singing over a subdued mechanical beat and fat washes of keyboard. Despite the record's occasional overreach, it's worth it to hear Whitley flex his creative muscles and come up with something so immediate, hovering on the edge of experimental while remaining absolutely, overtly listenable.

Matthew Cooke - Amazon.com



Ein einfaches Konzept lag dem grandiosen Vorläufer Perfect Day im Jahr 2000 zu Grunde: ausschließlich Coverversionen, von Dylan über Doors bis Hendrix oder Robert Johnson. Die aber setzte Chris Whitley bestechend um: eigenwillig, abgrundtief bluesig, berauschend intensiv. Sein Rocket House aber lockt nicht mit Bekanntem und lädt, um im Titelbild zu bleiben, nicht mit offenen Türen ein, sondern will erst erschlossen und erobert sein. Und da geht auch nichts raketengleich ab. Whitley ist vielmehr ein Meister der Zwischen- und leisen Töne. Ausschließlich eigene Songs serviert der amerikanische Singer/Songwriter, und erweist sich zehn Jahre nach seinem Debüt Living With The Law einmal mehr als extrem eigenwilliger Charakter.

Zwar basieren alle elf Stücke auf eindeutigen Songstrukturen zwischen Rock, Blues und Beinahe-Pop. Doch treiben Whitley und Produzent Tony Mangurian mit Effekten, vertrackten Rhythmen und abgedrehter Sound-Aura ein spannendes Verwirrspiel, das die Songs weit ins Niemandsland jenseits üblicher Strophen-Refrain-Muster vorstoßen lässt. So entführt der Opener "To Joy (Revolution Of The Innocents)" zunächst scheinbar in den Orient, schlängelt sich mit dem hypnotisierenden Reiz einer Bauchtänzerin dahin, ehe das schräge Motiv rockig-bluesige Züge annimmt. "Radar" ist eine Ballade, die allerlei kosmische Sounds umschwirren, und bei der Dave Matthews und Bruce Hornby mitmischen. Manches Stück, zum Beispiel "Chain", wirkt wie ein Puzzle sehr kontroverser Versatzstücke, die sich erst nach und nach zu einem schlüssigen Ganzen zu formen scheinen. "Say Goodbye" dagegen fällt als straightes Poprock-Stück von hymnischen Qualitäten auf. "Solid Iron Heart" könnte, abgesehen von dem Elektronikflitter, durchaus von Tim Buckley stammen, indische Tablas geben "Little Torch" die besondere Note. "Vertical Desert" vereint elektronisches Schlagwerk und jazzige Piano-Kaskaden, gekrönt von Whitleys emotional aufgeladener, geschmeidiger Stimme. Rocket House ist eingängiger als es scheint, aber so vielschichtig, dass es auch nach dem x-ten Hören noch neuen Stoff fürs Kopfkino liefert.

Claus Böhm - Amazon.de



Chris Whitley debütierte 1991 mit seiner Vorliebe für National-Steel-Gitarren und bluesgetränkte Songs, sattelte später auf krachige Energie um, wurde wieder leiser und überraschte dann mit Perfect Day, einem hochgepriesenen Album nur mit Coverversionen von Howlin' Wolf bis Bob Dylan, unterstützt von zwei Dritteln des Power-Trios Medeski, Martin & Wood. Der aus Texas stammende Poet hält auf Rocket House weiterhin an der National Steel, an Banjo und anderen Saiteninstrumenten fest, wagt sich aber wieder einmal ans Experiment, noch einen Schritt radikaler als mit Martin und Wood.

Mit scharfen Scratchings des New Yorker Plattendrehers DJ Logic und den Programmierkünsten des Keyboarders Steve Barber verfrachtet Whitley seine absichtsvoll ungeschliffenen Songs in den Großstadtdschungel, vereint Roots mit greller Urbanität. Da zupft das Banjo im Loop der dröhnenden Beats, eine elektrische Gitarre schickt verzerrte Riffs in den Raum, verloren scheppert die Blechklampfe, Tablas setzen Akzente. Und Tony Mangurian (Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson) klopft auf die Felle. Doch nichts klingt manieristisch, alles hat Platz im Repertoire des melancholischen Sänger/Songschreibers, der sich hin und wieder von seiner Tochter Trixie und Dave Matthews unterstützen lässt. Ob sparsame Reduktion oder dämonische Hollers im Soundkanal, Whitleys siebtes Album ist das Beste, was der innovative Kritikerliebling bisher veröffentlicht hat.

Uli Lemke - Amazon.de



Wer Chris Whitley – desorientiert und zugedröhnt - auf seiner letzten Tournee erlebt hatte, der dürfte sich über diese doch sehr geschlossene, konzentrierte und überraschend zugängliche CD freuen. Unter der Mitwirkung seines Prouzenten Tony Mangurian, der „Freiwilligen“ Dave Mattews und Bruce Hornsby sowie seines Töchterchens Trixie schafft es Whitley wieder einmal, sich neu zu definieren. Der basisbildende Blues ist nur noch als Gerüst zu erkennen. Darüber erzeugt er luftige, ambientmäßige Soundkonstruktionen, in denen sich sein Gitarrenspiel zärtlich einbringt. Zusätzliche Elemente wie Scratching, Samples und Frequenz-Modulationen unterstreichen den innovativen Weg, den Whitley jetzt geht. Gleichzeitig gibt es – ungewöhnlich für den sexy abgehangenen Mann mit der Gitarre - beinahe poppige Passagen mit erkennbaren Melodielinien. Die Hinwendung zum räumlichen Denken eröffnet ihm zudem neue Möglichkeiten, sein Gitarrenspiel weiterzuentwickeln. „Rocket House“ ist bei weitem nicht die extremste, aber nichtsdestoweniger die gelungenste CD, die Whitley bislang vorlegte.

Ullrich Maurer - Intro
Musik & so www.intro.de



Okay, so Dave Matthews wears his guitar like a renaissance fair minstrel, but if he (and his ATO imprint) can pump life into Chris Whitley's career in the same way it revivified David Gray's, it's something we can overlook. Judging from Rocket House, Whitely has embraced the opportunity with those achingly thin arms of his; the disc is his most complete, fullest-sounding work since his final Columbia releases, without losing the raw, personal blues of his last collection of originals, Dirt Floor (Messenger, '98). There's no reason why this shouldn't be a commercial record-the songs are strong enough, it's well produced and Matthews lends a hand on "Radar"-but it's also an adventurous one. The natural blues of Whitley's voice is contrasted with minimal electronic noises and psychedelic loops on the title track, while veering back into a semi-acoustic setting for others. Rocket House has moments of real beauty, and this time, they're all the more accessible.

Scott Frampton: CMJ New Music Report Issue: 721 - Jul 02, 2001
© 1978-2001 College Media, Inc., Inc. All Rights Reserved.



Leicht macht es Chris Whitley seinen Fans nicht, denn er lässt sich einfach nicht festlegen. Experimentierfreudig wechselt der Texaner seit 1991 die Stilrichtungen. Nun überrascht uns der Gitarrist mit seinem neuen Streich "Rocket House".

Sein Debütalbum "Living With The Law" wurde als Offenbarung des modernen Folkblues gefeiert, doch wenig später wandte er sich düsterer, lauter, feedbackgeschwängerter E-Gitarrenmusik zu und verschreckte damit so manchen. Auf "Dirt Floor" kehrte er 1998 zu seinen Folkblues-Wurzeln zurück, zwei Jahre später lotete er auf "Perfect Day" aus, wie der Jazz seine Musik bereichern kann.

Sein jüngstes Werk "Rocket House" bietet nun wieder einen neuen Whitley: Jetzt hat der 40-Jährige den modernen Gitarrenrock entdeckt - einschließlich Scratching-Effekten sowie Elementen aus HipHop und Techno. Als "zerrissen und dann neu zusammengesetzt", als "eine Struktur" beschreibt er selbst sein neues Werk.

Zusammengehalten wird diese Struktur von Whitleys Gitarrenspiel, der Rest ist heterogen, aber durchaus spannend. Da findet sich dann auch Platz für ein Duett mit Tochter Trixie (auf "Serve You") und für Gastauftritte von Dave Matthews und Bruce Hornsby, die beide auf "Radar" mitspielen.

© dpa - Meldung vom 18.01.2002 11:10 Uhr



My own experiences seeing classical music - in the traditional, pompously orchestral sense - have been somewhat limited. I will admit, though, that I have no idea what's going on, for the most part, and leave feeling some kind of drained. Sometimes that's because my ears strain to figure out what's happening musically. Other times, it's because the music is grandiose and works my brain into a frenzy in the same way a well-built jam does. In any event, there is not a fixed reward for listening to it, because I'm generally unfamiliar with the musical language. The results, for me, are a surprise, and it sounds - to my innocent ears - like each piece is essentially inventing the form. The strain is important, though: it takes a lot of mental energy for me to get a hold of what's going on.

Though I'm a little more familiar with the basic principles of the matter, I feel similarly when listening to "Rocket House", the new Chris Whitley record. Rock has been going through a studio renaissance lately. Witness the newest albums by Radiohead, REM, and others, as they use the studio to create rock and roll orchestras, not of strings and horns and kettle drums, but of rows and rows of instruments that the ear can't identify, things that don't have live analogues. One can point out sounds, but - when he tries to describe them - he might find that they sound like no instrument he can put his finger on, instead pressing it down into gaseous space as he tries to find the center. A telling mark of these pop symphonies is that he finds himself not really caring about the words so much as the tone of the singer's voice and the phrasing that he uses. As talented a lyricist as Thom Yorke is, I'll be damned if I can sing along with most songs on "Kid A"!

At any rate, "Rocket House" has the same characteristics. Sometimes, one can place the source of the sounds - such as the incessant electric guitar on Chain - but try to make out the layered background tracks that lie beneath it and one is rewarded with a mind puzzle filled with backwards maskings, plucked strings, stray piano notes, and other things. Whitley's vocals are like this, too. They shift suddenly within the course of certain lines. It's not so much a matter of verse-chorus-verse, but of an ever-shifting melodic attack, no less schizophrenic than any of the underlying tracks.

Whitley's last album was cute, but harmless and irrelevant in the way folk music often is. He growled and grunted his way through folk-blues (backed with the surprising rhythm section of Chris Wood and Billy Martin). From that, I'd assumed he was one of those folkies that hadn't said anything new with the medium. And when he sticks with that (such as on Solid Iron Heart), affecting his voice into a growl when he should just be crooning, it doesn't quite make it.

Generally, if one is going to engage in a pop symphony like this, he needs to have something epic to say with it, otherwise the ostentatious arrangements won't mean much. At his heart, Whitley still seems like a highly personal singer-songwriter. The lyrics are cryptic, and there is an odd absence of the personal. There are plenty of first-person lines, but very few descriptions of the narrator(s). Instead, they offer up individual accounts of strangeness, descriptions of erratic behavior with no explanation given. After floating with these things for a while - like a Steve Erickson novel - one finds it harder and harder to get grounded without the fundamentals of acoustic guitars.

If Whitley is going to continue to employ these sorts of arrangements - and he should, they're a great idea - he should either have the songs to match, or consider streaming down to a pop chamber quartet or something. A lot of this material would be served far better with minimalist arrangements -- a Moog, a drone, and whispered vocal.

Jesse Jarnow - 2001-11-21
JamBands.com



Chris Whitley's Rocket House marks another shift for the man whose debut, Living with the Law, was a burst of Tom Petty-esque roots-rock. Since then, Whitley's oeuvre has become an increasingly eclectic--some would say unfocused--collection, one that reached its nadir with the grunge-flavored Din of Ecstasy in 1995. But in recent years, Whitley's been trusting his instincts, taking a more somber, minimalist road most poignantly captured on the Billy Martin-Chris Wood (of Medeski Martin & Wood fame) collaboration, Perfect Day. Whitley's House, however, is in another time and place entirely. Filled with whispering effects and looped guitars, dense songs, and an accessible, modern-rock slant, it's the work of a mature, smart songsmith who's discovered how to get the most out of his poet's eye for the human condition, while going for broke in embracing musical possibilities. Kicking off with "To Joy (Revolution of the Innocents)," the sea change is immediately obvious, as a strange little warble gives way to a burst of serpentine electronics and a sly chorus Dave Matthews could be proud of (indeed, the record is released on Matthews's label, ATO Records). Have a listen to the wide-open pop on songs like "Say Goodbye," and "Vertical Desert," the latter finding Whitley's rootsy voice singing over a subdued mechanical beat and fat washes of keyboard. Despite the record's occasional overreach, it's worth it to hear Whitley flex his creative muscles and come up with something so immediate, hovering on the edge of experimental while remaining absolutely, overtly listenable.

Copyright © 1997-2002 Skali. All rights reserved.



THE LONER

The nonconformist singer/songwriter from Texas goes his own way - taking no prisoners: from triphop-blues to electronica. Do you feel like this, too? You just can´t hear it anymore, this musicianbabbling of new influences and developments, of the oh-so-revolutionary breaks in the own creation – and in the end you simply hold the eversame record by (insert any name here) in your hand. Chris Whitley does not speak that kinda mumbojumbo, even though he had all the right to claim he was stylistically open. Lately he was playing chamberjazz versions of his fave tunes from Robert Johnson to Lou Reed. On ROCKET HOUSE he is already somewhere completely different. Should we call it TripHop-Blues, what happens here? Electronica-Folk? CAN could´ve sounded like that, if they had ever chosen to change into the singer/songwriter field. John Martyn would be a candidate, if he was still as daring as in the past. End to the guessing. Let´s say what we know: Chris Whitley has written eleven magnificient songs, thrown them against the wall and put the pieces back together. Scratches, sounds and distorted voices spook through the tunes, on "Radar" Bruce Hornsby and Dave Matthews add their taste to the stew. Aside from this, Tony Mangurian, that also worked with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, is the anchor in the sea as intrumentalist and producer in these thrilling excursions into unknown territory. An unforgettable trip? For sure. The album of the year? Most probably.

MUSIKEXPRESS



With guests and DJ Whitley is once again shooting for the big time Sometimes you need a little time out to make the quantum leap for your own thing. And some help from the outside. Chris Whitley needed a live-album and improvised covers ("Perfect Day"), to make an album that is the diametral opposite of his small comeback "Dirt Floor". In the choice of musical means, not always in the intimate gesture. And he needed a producer like Tony Mangurian (Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson) that could lead to new paths without keeping the trusted baggage of the long sole traveller stranded by the wayside. That a DJ Logic could place a few nice scratches here and there is far more relevant than the stint of Dave Matthews (his US-label owner) or Bruce Hornsby that could really do no wrong on the emphatically swinging "Radar". "Rocket House", says Whitley, "is more a structure than a guitar-album". That it is his guitar, that glues the album together – with acoustical chording on "Solid Iron Heart", as a chainsaw-endless-lick on "Chain" - does not have to be a contradiction. The most conventional is "Say Goodbye", that feeds his lyrical clichees with stadium-pathos. Rather leading to the epicenter of "Rocket House" is the title track, with its heavy stop´n go loop that carries Whitley´s voice as well as some ambience. Or the phenomenal "Serve You": Whitley dueting with daughter Trixie, TripHop meets Gospel. Or the sad "From a photograph". Or the silent tranquility in the "Vertical Desert". (***)

ROLLING STONE



Roots in Loops

Dobro-specialist Chris Whitley counts among the most innovative singer/songwriters that come from the Blues but are not pulled under by it. He proves this once again with "Rocket House": a pulsating manifest of traditional roots-elements and urban loops, beats and scratches. "Yes, it is my best album so far. An album that I´ve been trying to make for the past 20 years but never knew how." Chris Whitley speaks out what everybody, that has heard it so far, is thinking about "Rocket House". The 41-year old is proud of the record, on which he is putting the last finishing touches whilst we are on the phone. "It took a while until it started moving but then everything was flowing freely. Everything kinda came together. It was real fun, there was a kind of magic in the air!" This magic can be felt in each and every one of the songs. After the spartanically instrumented albums "Dirt Floor", "Live at Martyr´s" and the grandiose "Perfect Day", on which he was accompanied by the rhythm-crew of the NY Hammond-Trio Medeski, Martin & Wood, "Rocket House" reminds with its pictures somewhat of the Malcolm Burn produced debut "Living with the law". For the realisation of his TripHop-Country-Blues-Roots-Rock-Ambient Soundscapes Whitley assembled some friends in the studio that could not come from more different areas. Tony Mangurian, a kindergarten-friend, that has meanwhile been working with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, makes sure that his beats attach the songs to earth while the keyboardist Steve Barber defies gravity with his flirring sounds and punctuated loops. "Steve is a phenomenal arranger. He´s worked with Joe Zawinul but has also played with Keith Richards", Whitley appreciated Barber´s flexibility. DJ Logic, a hip-hop scratcher from the Bronx, the Indian tabla-master Badal Roy, that worked with Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman, the former Stones- and Beach Boys- background vocalist Blondie Chaplin, US-Megastar Dave Matthews and, last but not least, Whitley´s daughter Trixie refine this melange of traditional roots-rock and modern electronic sounds. Whitley, that is travelling between New York, Belgium and Dresden, where his fiancee lives, has always had a crush on computer-sounds. On "Dirt Floor", he serviced the Kraftwerk-tune "The Model" as a banjo-version. Where is this passion coming from. The trail leads to Belgium. In the eighties, the Texan was thrown into the European Techno- and EBM-mekka, where he played a while with different coverbands. "For my American ears, German and Belgian electronica-projects always sounded exotic, but aside from that I was fascinated by how emotional and powerful they were." Aside from the many musical influences Whitley connects his time in Belgium mostly with the birth of his daughter. The now 14-year-old Trixie lives in Belgium and has made her own name as Techno-DJane Tadpole. Trixie sings background vocals, on the amazingly beautiful "Serve You" for instance. Who is expecting Whitley´s sound to be mainstreamed and mellow by so much family happiness, is entirely wrong. "Rocket House" doesn´t miss the edges that one is used to by his latest albums and, mostly, from his powerful live-performances. His strong physique can be felt throughout. "I am also a singer/songwriter but I´m getting tired of that milieu. I love bodily, progressive things, sometimes also quiet stuff. Lastly it´s the balance that matters. When I play, everything comes from the guts and I hope you can feel that, too. Another singer/songwriter dying hooked to his guitar, no thanks!" This power and physical presence can also be felt on the archaically sounding predecessors of "Rocket House". Were these, reduced to the minimum, albums some kind of a catharsis, after Whitley had reached a dead-end street with his Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam alike sounding records in 1995? "Firstly, I had been looking for a way to be able to make records after all. It was just not possible to cost a lot. But I always dug simple things, no matter if it was "The other side of Bob Dylan" or solo-recordings of Thelonius Monk. Maybe the rule that everything had to be cheap led to a catharsis. Maybe." Whitley had his head so free and clean, that it was possible to make a grandiose record. It might sound high-headed but maybe in a not-too distant future "Rocket House" will be named in one breath with "Pet Sounds" of the Beach Boys, Miles Davis´ "In a silent way" and "Dummy" of Portishead as a milestone of it´s own.

BLUE RHYTHM MAGAZINE



Never one to rest on his formidable indie-blues laurels, Whitley tests the limits of his superb songwriting and emotive vocals. In the past, he fused blues with jazz, rock, and folk, but on his seventh disc (and first on Dave Matthews' label) the troubadour goes digital, looping in Middle Eastern chants, bongo beats, electronic beeps, and DJ Logic's scratches. Through it all, that heavenly voice lifts Rocket above the racket.

Evan Serpick - Entertainment Weekly



Chris Whitley emerged as a haunting, post-modern bluesman with 1991's Living With the Law. His next moves was the image-shattering sonic barrage of 1995's Din of Ecstasy and 1997's Terra Incognita. Since then, he's left Columbia, gone indie, and is now plying his trade acoustically (as on the stripped-down Dirt Floor), as well as surveying his blues and rock influences (the covers set Perfect Day). Now, he's found the tools to indulge both his organic influences and his rebellious streak in an imaginative, alluring way. With help from DJ Logic and others, Whitley turns in a record of his individualist blues that swirls and swooshes with electronic processing. Yet the sounds are supported by solid songs that are as close to pop as he's ever come. The spliced loops, jagged rhythms, and vocals that swoop from dusky to falsetto make for an intoxicating brew. In this age of post-everything experimentation, these electronic abstractions could seem contrived - fortunately, they never do. Rocket House shows once again that Whitley is that rare artist who manages to meet his fans halfway while breaking free of any expections.

SA - Billboard Magazine, June 9, 2001



Chris Whitley certainly knows a thing or two about playing the blues, having crafted some of the most original, emotionally compelling examples the genre has seen in decades. More important, he knows a thing or two about conveying the spirit of the blues, which is not dependent on timeworn instrumentation or chord progressions. That's certainly clear on this bracing disc's 11 tracks, which crisscross the sonic spectrum while maintaining the dark intensity inherent in Whitley's compositions. "To Joy (Revolution of the Innocents)" undulates with an urban tribal vibe that recalls German space-rockers Can, while "Little Torch" finds Whitley riding the angry-sounding samples of DJ Logic, a driving force on many of the album's tunes. Not everything on Rocket House is intended to punish, though: "Solid Iron Heart" is stripped down and utterly beguiling, while "Radar" (which features cameos from Dave Matthews and Bruce Hornsby) ambles along amiably, although it does require listeners to take a few left turns on the way. More historically minded types might have trouble with some of Whitley's hybrids, but folks who prefer living, breathing art to the kind that hangs in a museum won't want to miss a tour of Rocket House.

David Sprague - Barnes & Noble.com, June 2001



Chris Whitley, Rocket House (ATO/BMG): Ten years and six albums later, the gifted but perplexing Whitley has finally fashioned a proper follow-up to his auspicious debut, Living With the Law. Rubbing his sultry vocals and tactile slide, dobro and banjo lines against the scratching and electronics of DJ Logic, the percussive keyboards of Stephen Barber and the sinewy drumming of producer Tony Mangurian (Luscious Jackson), Whitley makes music that relies on friction as much as substance for its emotion. "To Joy" clatters along amiably like a jalopy on a dirt road, "Say Goodbye" howls lustily at the moon and "Radar" is a widescreen ballad in the grand tradition of the Stones' "Moonlight Mile."

Bud Scoppa, Hits Magazine, June 2001
 

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