AP GEM Review
When you see a great piece of art you feel better as a person for having seen it. At those moments, whether it be within the quiet halls of a museum or, at your morning table listening and watching the convergence of sounds and images on your laptop, it is a grand thing. Aaron Gibson is a very talented singer-songwriter and bassist based out of Logsden, Oregon and his recent full length release with the provocative title "Horror Films and Sunday School" has a lot of songs to settle into but my very first introduction to Gibson's evocative music was this morning as I fully sat in awe watching the Official Video for the last track on the album, Said No Lover. I can tell you that often times when I review songs attached to video, I like to listen first only. I did just that when the song (as a submission) sat on my electronic desk. The music from the onset, was incredibly engaging. Gibson as a storyteller spins tales that sound at once tall but also set firmly in the concrete of reality. His bass lines tell their own stories too laying down intricate patterns and chords that feel more like patterns on a piano really, well and bass too. It is a marvel to listen to and after awhile it becomes it's own instrument other than a bass, an instrument that needs no name. Coupled with Gibson's ability to spin his tales, his bass takes on characters in his story. It is as if he is telling improvised bedtime stories to his children and the bass sounds takes on the character of a walking giant or a snow storm. His dexterity here fits in with the orchestration, the string section that embraces much of his work on "Horror Films and Sunday School" and it the result is cinematic.
Now, remember I mentioned images although I have thus far focused on Gibson's folk storytelling. The Official Video for Said No Lover is simply (and this is not overstated) a masterpiece. Created by Miguel Rodrick (as director, design and animation) and with additional modeling and animation by Diego Escobar and Wilver Rivera. It features a character who looks mysteriously like Gibson on a whimsical cross country odyssey in a little yellow car with an enormous giant in tow. I will not even attempt to describe this amazing little film and how exacting and perfect is marries with Gibson's song but you will definitely feel better as a person for having seen it.
Said No Lover players are Aaron Gibson on Bass Guitar and Vocals, Nahuel Bronzini - String Arrangements, String Recording and Production, Violin - Abigail Shiman, Violin - Kashi Elliot, Viola - Luis Bellorín and Cello - Helen Newby.
Learn more about Aaron Gibson here: https://www.aarongibson.me/
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Robb Donker
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Aaron Gibson is a singer-songwriter who has been creating music since childhood. Through the course of three albums, twenty four videos and ten singles - Aaron Gibson has evoked emotion and captured the imagination of listeners with his deeply personal songs.
Said No Lover is the last track on Gibson's 2019 album Horror Films and Sunday School.
The new video was release on January 18th, 2020.
"With Horror Films, Gibson has succeeded in putting together a truly unique, emotionally charged record that doesn’t confine itself to one feeling or sound, spreading across a vast wealth of strings that one would be hard-pressed to find so well put together elsewhere." - Get in on Vinyl
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