The new compilation from Half-handed Cloud, Gathered Out of Thin Air, is overwhelming. There are 60 songs here, and each races through multiple chord changes, and melodic ideas in record time. John Ringhofer fills these tracks with more invention than is nearly imaginable, and his ambition as an artist is sometimes amazing.
Most numbers here are short, like under two minutes, and in that time Ringhofer offers up big hooks, like on "Here We Go Transformation", or more subtle ones like on "Roald Read the Passage". In most cases, John's material is full of so many ideas that a listener feels nearly smothered by what's here. Even a more mellow number like "Slip Through the Cracks" still feels nearly-frenzied, the brighter passages that sound like a Ben Folds song pummeled into submission by the riffs here that are insistent and unrelenting. I suppose this compilation's strengths would be more apparent when taken in smaller doses, but there's no mistaking the cleverness on display here. For the sections of Gathered Out of Thin Air that are explicitly Christian, Ringhofer's devout beliefs are trumpeted over the course of numbers that roar past, like "Train Yourself in Godliness", while others, like "Reconciliation Grows Today", strain to maintain a sense of solemn meaning when the tune and riffs are so chirpy. Still, all of the music on Gathered Out of Thin Air is so distinctive that it seems churlish to criticize this too much. Admittedly, this stuff isn't for everyone, but at least John Ringhofer is full of enthusiasm and, apparently, the Holy Spirit, if one believes that kind of thing. (wink emoji)
Gathered Out of Thin Air is out now via Asthmatic Kitty Records.
More details on Half-handed Cloud via the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Asthmatic Kitty]