Magic Tuber Stringband: Needlefall | ★★★★ | Thrill Jockey | March 22
“Back to the future” makes most people think of Michael J. Fox’s gum-smacking sass and Christopher Lloyd’s mad-scientist hair. But as a conceptual framework, the phrase is loaded with deeper meaning: a reverence for the past tempered with an embrace of innovation, perhaps.
Or, in the case of Durham-based duo Magic Tuber Stringband, it can indicate a heady blend of old-time jams and droning mysticism—communal joy juxtaposed with minimalist abstraction as Appalachian tradition toes an avant-garde line.
After just a half decade together, this singular blend seems like second nature for fiddler Courtney Werner and guitarist Evan Morgan. On the band’s fourth full-length, Needlefall, they effortlessly inhabit both ends of their sonic spectrum. Album opener “A Dance on a Sunday Night” rolls and tumbles like a winding mountain path before the driving rhythm of “Days of Longing” devolves into a dissonant dirge.
Field recordings inspired by Werner’s ecological work tie together mid-album improvisations “The Hermit’s Passage,” “Water Dripped Upwards,” and “The Long-Suffering,” the latter of which features squalls of saxophone from local legend Crowmeat Bob along with other polyphonic supplements from Andy McLeod and Dan Partridge.
On Needlefall’s closing trio of songs, Magic Tuber Stringband’s nuanced capabilities build to a powerful climax. The title track mirrors the changing of North Carolina’s seasons by constructing layers of cinematic rhythm a la improv icons Pauline Oliveros and Terry Riley.
“Twelfth House” highlights the elegant lockstep between Morgan’s 12-string guitar and Werner’s fluid fiddle arrangements. “Piney Woods Burn,” finally, puts an experimental bow on the entire affair, mournful strains of singing saw evoking the natural world that inspires this transcendent duo and informs their strongest work yet.
The fact that esteemed indie label Thrill Jockey Records signed Magic Tuber Stringband in 2023 and released Needlefall on March 22 might lead off any other review.
But since Werner and Morgan are redefining how traditional music can push the cutting-edge envelope, it’s a major career move that makes perfect sense. How high will these Triangle innovators fly? Follow the path blazed by Needlefall to find out.
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