Bob Guido / (Self-Titled)
Release Date: Jan. 17, 2020
Label: Independent
Genre: Ambient
Composed and produced by Bob Guido
MAPL/SOCAN
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There are few people making music in Canada as pure and inspiring as Bob Guido. The Ontario-born composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist is completely committed to the joy of discovery, and the pleasure of wandering down a road with no expectation of where it might lead.
On his new self-titled solo album, Guido followed those roads to create 12 stunning pieces that affirm his place among the leading voices within Canada’s ambient music scene. Since his first violin lessons at age 4—given by a Catholic nun who did not spare the rod—Guido has been chasing new and innovative ways to create sound and, more importantly, enhance its emotional impact.
That may be the simplest way to describe Bob Guido, but it barely scratches the surface of what the album offers in terms of Guido’s personal journey to reach this point. Having followed in the footsteps of one of his primary inspirations, Daniel Lanois, Guido crafted the album out of many sessions held in various locations ranging from churches, small theatres and an abandoned silo, to his own residence and even field recordings made in Iceland. No idea was off-limits, as long as they conveyed his unique vision.
“Music is the best way that I know how to unravel the mystery of this world,” he says. “My music seems to always sound very mysterious, and I think if it stopped sounding that way, I would lose interest. My guitar playing, for example, has become more and more about finding what is interesting and unpredictable rather than what is impressive. With this album, I would keep the weird takes and purposely trash the good ones. Eventually, I started to try to have this extra level of awareness of when something was unusual or unique and amplify that aspect of what I heard in my performance.”
Although Guido handles the bulk of the instrumentation on each piece himself, the album also includes a guest appearance from renowned Lanois collaborator Bill Dillon on guitar, along with several notable drummers. Mixes were divided between Guido, Warne Livesey (Matthew Good Band, The The, Midnight Oil) and Julian Kindred (Hammock, Aimee Mann), with mastering handled by Australian sonic wizard William Bowden (Gotye, The Church). Added up, Bob Guido tells his story in vivid detail, whether through words, or simply through sound.
Living in the moment. We hear it all the time as the key to life, but it is often easier said than done. Sometimes it takes great personal loss for the meaning to be revealed. Bob Guido has a better grasp of that meaning than most of us and puts it on full display throughout Bob Guido, an album that is reminder of how inextricably linked music is to all aspects of our past, present and future.