{"id":5886,"date":"2017-05-25T13:29:56","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T17:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=5886"},"modified":"2017-06-07T12:55:09","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T16:55:09","slug":"wooden-wand-clipper-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"Wooden Wand
Clipper Ship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wooden<\/a>To call James Jackson Toth prolific is an understatement. A brief glance at his catalog shows a body of work that may seem daunting to anyone who doesn\u2019t navigate Discogs with an Excel spreadsheet fired up. As such, his music has a restless nature. Best known by his Wooden Wand stage name, Toth is perhaps best known for being part of the freak-folk movement of the early 2000s. He\u2019s cast his net far and wide, bringing in elements of country, free jazz, and Crazy Horse\u2013era Neil Young into the mix. It\u2019s not that surprising that Toth has decided to flip the script once again for his latest Wooden Wand full length, Clipper Ship<\/i> (Three Lobed Recordings).<\/p>\n

Clipper Ship<\/i> is the first Wooden Wand release since 2014\u2019s Farmer Corner<\/i>, not necessarily a long time for most acts, but for someone who seemingly puts out records at the clip that a drunk sends out text messages, it seems like an eternity. One senses that Toth took the break as an opportunity to reset. The result is a fairly lean, fairly straightahead acoustic folk album augmented by instruments like oriental lute, melodica, harmonium, cello, tabla, and pedal steel. But despite the 13 guests listed in the credits, it sounds like the work of a three-person crew, at most, sitting in a room and working it out. The multiple contributions aren\u2019t unnoticeable, but the arrangements are so tight and sparse that they don\u2019t pull your focus away. It\u2019s an interesting balance of the simple and musically intricate.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been reported that Toth wrote the music first and then the words, flipping his creative process so that the music would shape how the lyrics were delivered. Who\u2019s to say for sure if that is noticeable to the average listener, but there\u2019s no denying that Toth seems to be in conversation with the music, allowing the instrumentation to serve as the chorus, with \u201cMallow T\u2019Ward the River,\u201d being the best example of that dynamic. Elsewhere, it\u2019s more of a push and pull kind of thing, and there are also well-placed ambient sounds that seem to linger just out of earshot, even though they possess a full-bodied presence. Clipper Ship<\/i> is the type of record you could listen to as an instrumental work, with many extended moments and an entire track, “Mood Indicia,” to support that approach.<\/p>\n

One of the trickier elements of the albums is how Toth manages to dance between surreal and abstract imagery, while also delivering straightforward narratives. There\u2019s an element of playfulness in his use of language and images, like in \u201cMexican Coke,\u201d where he declares, \u201cIf you leave the door open so the flies can escape, you\u2019re just inviting the rattlesnakes. We can always do more harm than good, our best intentions, misunderstood.\u201d Like a perfect parfait, all of the elements are in their proper places. If Clipper Ship<\/i> is the result of Toth letting Wooden Wand smell the roses, then let\u2019s enjoy the leisurely pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To call James Jackson Toth prolific is an understatement. A brief glance at his catalog shows a body of work that may seem daunting to anyone who<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,1999,1998],"class_list":["post-5886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-three-lobed-recordings","tag-wooden-wand"],"yoast_head":"\nWooden Wand Clipper Ship - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To call James Jackson Toth prolific is an understatement. A brief glance at his catalog shows a body of work that may seem daunting to anyone who\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-25T17:29:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-07T16:55:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dorian S. Ham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dorian S. Ham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dorian S. Ham\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/052e61e93859e4be05d8e06722ce0579\"},\"headline\":\"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-25T17:29:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-07T16:55:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/\"},\"wordCount\":512,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Album Review\",\"Three Lobed Recordings\",\"Wooden Wand\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Album Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/\",\"name\":\"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship - The Agit Reader\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-25T17:29:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-07T16:55:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Wooden Wand, Clipper Ship\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\",\"name\":\"The Agit Reader\",\"description\":\"a music webzine\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Agit Reader\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg\",\"width\":339,\"height\":149,\"caption\":\"The Agit Reader\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/agitreader\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/052e61e93859e4be05d8e06722ce0579\",\"name\":\"Dorian S. Ham\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79cc18731a8ca82cff8ba2334f1c92b012a00303541d0b4e215e078c5ee85b86?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79cc18731a8ca82cff8ba2334f1c92b012a00303541d0b4e215e078c5ee85b86?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Dorian S. Ham\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/author\/doriansham\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship - The Agit Reader","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship - The Agit Reader","og_description":"To call James Jackson Toth prolific is an understatement. A brief glance at his catalog shows a body of work that may seem daunting to anyone who","og_url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/","og_site_name":"The Agit Reader","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader","article_published_time":"2017-05-25T17:29:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-07T16:55:09+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Dorian S. Ham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@agitreader","twitter_site":"@agitreader","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dorian S. Ham","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/"},"author":{"name":"Dorian S. Ham","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/052e61e93859e4be05d8e06722ce0579"},"headline":"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship","datePublished":"2017-05-25T17:29:56+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-07T16:55:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/"},"wordCount":512,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg","keywords":["Album Review","Three Lobed Recordings","Wooden Wand"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/","url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/","name":"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship - The Agit Reader","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg","datePublished":"2017-05-25T17:29:56+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-07T16:55:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/wooden_wand-clipper_ship.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Wooden Wand, Clipper Ship"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wooden-wand-clipper-ship\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wooden Wand Clipper Ship"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#website","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/","name":"The Agit Reader","description":"a music webzine","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization","name":"The Agit Reader","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/agitcom.jpg","width":339,"height":149,"caption":"The Agit Reader"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader","https:\/\/x.com\/agitreader"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/052e61e93859e4be05d8e06722ce0579","name":"Dorian S. Ham","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79cc18731a8ca82cff8ba2334f1c92b012a00303541d0b4e215e078c5ee85b86?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79cc18731a8ca82cff8ba2334f1c92b012a00303541d0b4e215e078c5ee85b86?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Dorian S. Ham"},"url":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/author\/doriansham\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Up74-1wW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5886"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5889,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5886\/revisions\/5889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}