This was supposed to be a good review. I took an hour, plus, to write it all up nice. I put a few creative, sparkling touches. It glistened. It shined. Majestic. But apperantly the gods that be deemed it unworthy and crashed my computer. Beaten but not down, I shall try again.
History
Woven Hand is David Eugene Edwards' solo expression. He has one other Woven Hand cd, which is self titled. Now, Edwards is mostly known for his band, 16 Horsepower. Through out the years 16HP has evolved from a raw alt.country band with spazztic punk and goth influences to a more refined, but still raw, rootsy folk-country. The self titled Woven Hand cd keeps the folk-country, but smooths out the raw into a majestic soundscape.
Blush Music
Now, this cd was origionally released in Europe only. Thankfully, Sounds Familyre has released it state side for us rabid fans. This cd, however, is different from everything else Edwards has done.
Think of this cd as a musical score. Think of it as a soundtrack. Because that is basically what it is. It was written for the Ultima Vez Dance Co. There are many features to the cd which are typical for musical scores.
Like a score there are a lot of instrumental songs. Sure, a few tracks highlight Edwards' trademark voice, but the main focus of this cd is the instrumentation. While it is steered around that country-folk sound, there are elements of rhythmic noise. Think some of the Sonic Youth if they were a country band.
Many of the songs seem to drag a few minutes longer than the should, as is often the case with scores. The biggest culprit is track two, which goes for over 12 minutes. Yay. If the music it's self was any less, it would really drag the cd, as a whole, down.
Aside from that, this is a pretty strong cd for a score-like release. It will probably mainly appeal to fans of David Eugene Edwards, however, people who like folky music in a score-like setting (with the added twist of the "noise" feature) might find this release intriguing, too.
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
Just listened to some clips from 16 Horsepower thanks to your review, sounds like some interesting stuff. Sort of a folkie-Nick Cave . . . sort of. Another one for the ever-growing list of new (to me) things I need to pick up . . .