On his Bandcamp page, mystical songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Richard Youngs states that
The Rest Is Scenery is "...high concept, low technique." Each of its 13 songs are composed of a single minor-guitar chord, from E-minor (the first one he learned to play) on the second fret, on up the neck one at a time -- F-minor, F-sharp minor, G-minor, etc. -- all the way up to E-minor again on the 12th. First impressions suggest that such a record would be a chore to listen to. It's not by a long shot. For anyone who has spent time listening to
Youngs, that shouldn't come as a surprise. Most of his wildly creative albums emerge from sparse beginnings: 1999's
Sapphie offered three long songs with his voice and a lone classical guitar; 2001's
Making Paper delivered three more using only a piano, and 2004's brilliant
River Through Howling Sky employed only guitars and pianos.