Ring of Fire by Molasses

 Truth collapses, monoculture shatters, noise devours; the linear expansion of the modernist project reveals itself as having led to nowhere but a harrowing cliff. The cyclical nature of folk tradition re-emerges on Ring of Fire by Molasses, a manically experimental rendition of timeless traditional tunes. Fiddles dominate the front of the mix, charging ahead and dusting up a cloud of noise in their wake from which strained vocals fight for relevance. In this cloud we find the disturbances of ideology and deconstruction, permanently added to culture but in this case relegated to the background. By rescuing these ancient sounds from this nebulous mess, Molasses shows us both how far we’ve traveled and how little we’ve changed, picking up these cyclical songs right where they left off even if a cloud must now hang over the proceedings. As we reconstruct meaning out of the void, questions inevitably rise surrounding the place of tradition in our future, and the songs we find here provide an excellent pathway for rediscovery without revisionism.