Music

Border Radio

Roots & Americana

by Kurt B. Reighley

Sure, there are compilation albums to complement nonfiction titles, but Blankets, the latest CD from Portland ensemble Tracker, is a more ambitious undertaking. It is, to quote its striking, Tiffany-blue sleeve, a set of "recordings for the illustrated novel Blankets by Craig Thompson," which won the 2003 Harvey Award for Best Graphic Novel.

This isn't some latter-day variation on Peter and the Wolf, with each character assigned a motif or timbre, but rather a series of vignettes. "The practical issue was, the book is nearly 600 pages," admits Tracker main man John Askew of the emotionally charged source material. He had to carefully isolate only the episodes that moved him most, lest he create a CD of Wagnerian scope. "A single frame in the book could merit a whole song."

The musical incarnation of Blankets was born from mutual admiration. Askew loved Thompson's first graphic novel, Good-bye, Chunky Rice, and befriended its publishers. So it came to pass that Thompson, who also resides in Portland, was introduced to Tracker's music on the highway to San Francisco. "That's such an amazing drive, through the mountains and then descending into sunny California," recalls Thompson. "And we were spacing out to the first couple Tracker albums, Polk (2002) and Ames (2001). It's great road-trip music, and that was when the idea was planted."

The resulting album, with its chilly xylophone tones, crackling samples, and haunting guitars, is a seductive selection of quiet instrumentals (and one vocal track, "Everything Is Beautiful," featuring Willy Vlautin from Richmond Fontaine, at the end) reminiscent of Tortoise, the less Euro-centric fare by Rachel's, and the recent output of Seattle's own Golden Climax Twins. Askew cites Brian Eno, David Byrne, and early records by Aerial M as touchstones too, along with one less obvious influence.

"When Richard Buckner made Devotion and Doubt, he did something that transformed the way the record was made," observes Askew. "Basically, he was telling a story, but in between some of the tracks, there were little [interludes]. So it was like the song was a city, and you were driving through it, and all of a sudden you'd drive off onto a desolate roadway, and those were these little, minute-long instrumentals."

For their live show this Saturday, January 29, at marsBar, Tracker--Askew, Derek Trost, and Todd Corbett-- will be concentrating on a mix of songs from Blankets, as well as older material. Alas, Thompson will not be joining them, as he did at their recent Portland gig, to create giant-sized illustrations during the concert. But the idea of doing such a gig in Seattle hasn't been made moot entirely. "I'd really like to do more shows like that," discloses Thompson. Fingers crossed, gentle readers.

kurt@thestranger.com

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