Triple Burner
Triple Burner
(Madrona)
As if he weren't busy enough running a production studio for mastering records and releasing solo albums, Harris Newman has now teamed with Bruce Cawdron (who also plays in the group Esmerine along with Newman) for an excellent release under the name Triple Burner. Here, Cawdron plays everything from random percussion to drums and glockenspiel, while Newman handles all guitar duties.
Even on first listen, it's obvious that the two are very talented musicians who play off one another quite well. Even though the album is seven total songs and has a running length of under forty minutes, they manage to never repeat themselves and dip into everything from psychedelic folk to Delta blues and even avant drone. Best of all, the release is structured and really works as one larger piece of music. It flows remarkably well as the two weave their styles from song to song and reveal new layers behind every turn.
Opening slowly, the album builds with humming tones of bowed cymbal while Newman adds some soulful playing around the smokey curls in "The Wherewithal." "Roundabout" follows and Cawdron picks things up with propulsive drumming while the guitar follows the lead. Some of the best moments on the release hit right in the middle, as "Bride Of Bad Attitude" sounds like Cawdron playing spoons while Newman breaks forth with sort of a bluegrass stomp. "Wall Socket Protector" is even more invigorating, as chugging snare drumming syncs in tight with some wicked, bluesy slide guitar.
The rest of the album finds the duo moving back and forth from quiet to louder just as easily, and even when they stretch things out to almost fourteen minutes on the lush "The Pulse Of Parc Ex," they manage to make everything seem like a natural progression. Although there's a lot of artists out their doing somewhat similar things in terms of sound with the whole new folk genre, this debut from Triple Burner is one of the better releases that I've heard in terms of uniqueness of structure and variety of styles. Highly enjoyable, and awesome packaging to boot.
rating: 7.75
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