Jim White MISFIT’S JUBILEE. Loose

The ever-elusive Americana maverick JIM WHITE returns with his most upbeat, hallucinogenic record to date. Known for his catalogue of dark ruminations on all things Southern, White’s latest outing, MISFIT’S JUBILEE, features a nonstop parade of manic, blue-collar conflagrations exploring realms dark and light, mystic and mundane, cynical and heartfelt; all presented within a buoyant, hook-laden sonic framework.

The raucous opener, ‘Monkey in a Silo’, provides a delirious peek into the drug-addled psyche of a teenage dope smuggler. From that ignominious jumping off point down the rabbit hole we go, pin-balling through a maze of quirky, marginalized characters jubilantly embracing various stages of existential undoing—who knew falling to pieces could be so much fun? And yet nestled comfortably amidst the high-octane sturm und drang of MISFIT’S JUBILEE lie several sanguine jewels; the ebullient 80’s indiefolk-rockesque ‘The Sum of What We’ve Been’ and the moody, piano-driven ‘Mystery of You’ come breezing in as bonafide crowd pleasers, dispelling any thought of relegating White to some narrow, fringe-artist category.

Known for his intricately layered, highly cinematic production values (his songs appear in numerous film and TV scores; Breaking Bad, last year’s feature film El Camino, and more) White’s novelistic eye for detail is fully on display in the darkly comedic ‘Highway of Lost Hats’.  Featuring a lovelorn loser on the run from the law, White juxtaposes samples from actual US police chases against a steady stream of Southern Rock cliches. ‘Highway of Lost Hats’ is a sonic carjacking veering recklessly across several major genre lanes, rendering it more a short noir film than a song—something to be watched, only with one’s ears, not eyes.

Plunging headlong into MISFIT’S JUBILEE one central truth emerges—the further White dives into the material, the deeper said material gets culminating with the closing couplet of epic show stoppers. First comes the sprawling kitsch of ‘My Life’s a Stolen Picture’ (replete with stadium anthem chants and shout-outs to Bigfoot), but the ribald mood is quickly displaced by the most overtly political song on the record, ‘The Divided States of America’.  A scathing indictment of the sorry state of affairs in his homeland, White’s deadpan delivery brilliantly underscores the banal evil at play presently in the US.

“Yeah, it’s time to call bulls**t on all that nonsense.” White says from his home in rural Georgia, “Us freaks, we gotta take up musical arms and start speaking truth to power here. If we don’t, who exactly will?” Recorded primarily at Studio Caporal in Antwerp, Belgium, this record marks a departure from White’s usual hopscotch approach to collaboration—no bevy of celebrated guest artists and studios scattered across the globe this go-round.  No, it’s just multi-instrumentalist White, his long-time drummer Marlon Patton, plus trusted Belgian sidemen Geert Hellings (guitar and banjo) and Nicolas Rombouts (electric, stand-up bass and keys), and the pared-down chemistry on display here lends MISFIT’S JUBILEE a sonic integrity that far exceeds any of White’s previous efforts.

MISFIT’S JUBILEE draws from an array of original songs penned by White over the span of several decades—scattered among the recent compositions are songs back-burnered in previous epochs by White’s major label handlers, this after said songs were deemed too extreme for his “brand”. With no such middleman constraints this go-round, in MISFIT’S JUBILEE White has found the perfect vehicle to unleash his twisted take on southern folk rock.  As White’s protagonist in the song ‘Wonders Never Cease’ defiantly declares, “A motel’s as good a place as any to let your demons fly!” The Americana maverick has let his sonic demons fly herein, setting the skies fully ablaze, like some LSD fueled 4th of July fireworks spectacular. Get ready to be dazzled.

5/5

Biography

Michael Davis Pratt (born March 10, 1957), known professionally as Jim White, is a southern American singer-songwriter and guitarist. White was born in California but moved to Pensacola, Florida at the age of 5. He was influenced in his childhood by gospel music. According to various sources, he has been a comedian, a fashion model, a boxer, a preacher, a professional surfer, and a New York City cab driver. Before embarking on a music career, White attended film school at New York University. Soon after finishing his lengthy thesis at the university, White entered a self-described “deep hole of sickness and depression and poverty.” However, during a party organized by film school friends, White began to perform, and began writing material for an album soon afterward.

White’s live shows, particularly when touring solo, can be characterized as off-beat, blending his playlist with open discussion with the audience, anecdotal storytelling derived from his own life experiences, all of which is typically humorous and insightful, with a deep sense of his feeling for the broken beauty of humanity. He has stated during shows that ultimately he wishes to return to the academic field, particularly as a professor, rather than continue as a professional, touring musician. Much of this is due to his family life, which he has stated takes priority in his life and is the reason he does not like touring very much. His sister, Katherine Pratt, teaches at Loyola Law School.

White’s band has no fixed lineup, but regularly includes musicians such as Dan Nettles (Electric Guitar); Peter Alvanos, Robby Handley, Steve Bishop Maples (Bass); Rob McMaken (Dulcimer, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin), Marlon Patton (Drums) and Mark Tulk (Keys).

White’s albums often feature collaborations. On WRONG-EYED JESUS, folk singer Victoria Williams sings on the track ‘Angel-Land’; British electronica trio Morcheeba produced and played on three tracks on NO SUCH PLACE. Aimee Mann, Barenaked Ladies, and jazz guitarist Bill Frisell appear on ‘Drill a Hole in That Substrate’ and ‘Tell Me What You See’, which was produced by Joe Henry, Tucker Martine, and Jim White himself. In an interview with David Byrne, White describes the making of the album. In 2006, Jim White collaborated with Johnny Dowd and Willie B and formed a group called Hellwood; in 2006, the band toured throughout Europe to promote the album CHAINSAW OF LIFE. More recently, Jim White served as producer and songwriter on a collaboration alongside Tucker Martine and blues singer Linda Delgado, on a project titled Mama Lucky. Mama Lucky’s first release PERMANENT STRANGER was released February 2009.

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