WOVEN HAND

3.5 stars.WOVEN HAND play a dark melancholic brand of folk music with lots of strummed and picked guitar,banjola and mandolin.The lyrics are God inspired and meaningful. "The Good Hand" is one of my top three on this album.There is this good beat with mandolin as vocals come in that remind me of ANATHEMA's Vincent Cavanagh.Piano 2 1/2 minutes in.I find this track to be very uplifting. "My Russia" is darker with deeper vocals. "Blue Pail Fever" is another top three for me.After a brief spacey intro vocals and strummed guitar take over.Organ 2 minutes in and 3 1/2 minutes in is a nice touch.This is such an emotional track.Organ ends it as well. "Glass Eye" is the most country-like.The tempo picks up after a minute. "Wooden Brother" has a good chorus with a fuller sound than the verses. "Ain't No Sunshine" is a cover of the Bill Withers song.This is a sadder version except for the chorus. "Story And Pictures" has these mellotron-like sounds early.Piano and vocals join in.Guitar follows. "Arrowhead" opens with a vocal sample as piano and guitar take over.Drums join in as well. "Your Russia" is the other top three for me.Deep sounds with vocals to match as heavy drums come in.Great sound 3 1/2 minutes in with vocal melodies. "Last Fist" has these vibes-like sounds before guitar takes over with vocals 1 1/2 minutes in.Very minimilistic even for this band. I agree with Sean Trane that there is a definite Indie/Alternative flavour to their music.I kept thinking of that on and off throughout this record.As melancholic as this is, i really found a lot of uplifting moments.

It's been a long wait since Woven Hand's last full-fledged studio album: if I remember well, the superb Mosaic was from early 06, while Ten Stones is from late 08, which is a long wait for a confirmation. A confirmation that doesn't really come as the new album cannot match its predecessor's fantastic ambiance. Indeed, I don't think DEE (that David Eugene Edwards) even tried to match it, as the album is harder-rocking than most of WH had done before; indeed this could be a 16 Horsepower album of sorts (the line had become rather blurred in 01, when DEE stopped 16 HP in favour of WH), although TS fits the WH mould rather well. As usual, impossible to know who is playing what on each track, so we'll have to guess at the usual suspects Garrison (drums), McMahon (keys) and Van Laerhoven (bass & guitar) and on "strings" Elin Palmer (now Smith), but these are just guesses, looking at Mosaic. Added noises and guitars from the two engineers Smith and Nikolaissen.

The object comes in a superb and evocative digipak hinting at an old leather-covered sacred book holding the texts of his latest (yes ten of them) thoughts - let's not forget DEE is a twisted character prey to his constant religious torments, a heritage from his preacher father. The opening Beautiful Axe is a good example of how the album sounds: while remaining sonically typically WH, the music is less medieval-sounding (but still fairly folky), less poignant but rockier and more optimistic than Mosaic. Among the more interesting tracks is Kicking Birds, which is supposed to start on native chants, but sounds mostly like the Picts and Scots going to war on each other over bagpipes background.

The short Horsetail works on a descending riff and has droning cello in its closing moments and the great Not One Stone has a good violin, courtesy of Elin, and ... whatever. I'm not going to go through every track, just figure it out for yourselves. Some tracks are almost hard rock, like White Knuckle Grip, where DEE's tendency at sounding a bit like U2 at least once per album is evident. And once again, DEE is prone to making a big mistake in covering Quiet Nights, sounding pastiche to the usual crooner type material.

There is in fact an eleventh "hidden" dronal track, which aside the opener, happens to be my fave because it's definitely the most experimental. So Ten Stones, while a typical WH album, it fails to carry the sonic hopes (exploring more medieval soundscapes) born with Mosaics, but it is still a good album to fit next to the other DEE albums.

Religion is a strange thing; many resist, youth rebel against, and millions deny. Yet the vast majority of the world claim one religion or another as their own. We mark time with a calendar that separates human epochs based on the birth of a religious figure that many reject. Long-formed traditions in nearly every culture have their roots in religious beliefs or superstitions, even those where the origins have been clouded by history. Wars are fought, buildings blown apart, nations and peoples laid bare; lives are defined and sometimes made forfeit all in the name of religion. Words and names mouthed as holy by some are uttered as profane by others, and both hate the other as a result. We live on a planet full of men where it is written both were formed by an all-knowing and infinitely powerful creator, yet disease and poverty and despair abound. Holy books are filled with tales of punishment, retribution, trials and a coming apocalyptic climax, and sometimes include incidents of the most horrific depravity that should cause rational-thinking people to recoil in disgust and fear. And in the end all religion is based on an expression of faith; though not always on hope, which the ancient Greeks (perhaps wisely) considered the most powerful of evils loosed from Pandora’s Box. Nietzsche declared hope to be the cruelest of emotions because of its power to prolong the miseries which of necessity must be present for hope to have any authority.

It’s all a very messy business.

David Eugene Edwards recognizes the interlaced contradictions and darkness that blanket this place we call home, and doesn’t shy away from the view. Wovenhand music has always chronicled the journey of The Struggle, both with poignancy and often wanton despair, this latest album more so than any prior. And while hope may offer little comfort or relief, neither does despair engulf the listener. It is what it is, nothing more, and certainly nothing less. Weak and timid souls need not apply.

The album explodes with torrid guitar blasts and a fervent drumbeat on “The Beautiful Axe” (the Blood Axe?), another lyrically disjointed yet poetic gaze to heaven written by Edwards; piously declaring “To the humble He has given grace, from the proud He hides his face” and following with an almost gleefully fatalistic chant of “Joy has come in the mind that I see - beautiful the axe that flies at me”. Wovenhand seem to have abandoned any pretense of docile Americana folk as Edwards channels generations of whiskey-breathed and grizzled tent-revival evangelists who stoked the fear-inspired Christian principles that evolved across Middle America between the ages of post-Civil War carpetbaggers and the free-form Chautauqua movements of the early twentieth century. Nine or ten more like this one and Southern blood would boil in righteous indignation and rail against a world of depravity and evil intention.

But a basic tenant of those same homespun Ameri-Christian principles is humility, finding its genesis in biblical proverbs such as “every proud man is an abomination to the Lord; I assure you that he will not go unpunished”; and “if you have foolishly been proud or presumptuous, put your hand on your mouth; for the stirring of milk brings forth curds, and the stirring of anger brings forth blood”. “Horsetail” expands on this theme amid a jangling, almost country guitar riff and the dire warning “if you think you can see it in your hand then you are blind; He brings the whirlwind to scatter your fire - you cannot reach Him, no - not from your tallest spire”. Maxims to live by, courtesy a band of scruffy and tattooed post-grunge rockers.

As with any proper Christian-themed record there must be a rapturous, apocalyptic song, and “Not One Stone” delivers that for this album. Edwards describes the final act in which the chosen one returns to exact vengeance and deliver holy justice on this thing He once created. Everything will be laid waste says the holy book; not one stone will remain atop another:

“On my way down this weary melody ends; the host of heaven descends, down beneath this bleeding ground - behold the lamb”

But Edwards is a red-blooded American at heart, sometimes even more so than he is a wild-eyed rural evangelist, and has a tendency to wander thematically with his music on occasion. Some of his best work has been odd covers and musical landscapes of dusty roads and dry fields cracked with the rise of too many hot suns. He is guilty of both indulgences on this record, starting with the undecipherable yet maudlin lyrics, bleak piano and rambling acoustic guitar on “Cohawkin Road” and “Iron Feather”. While I’ve no idea what these songs are about the return of piano, strings and other acoustic instruments recall his earliest work with both 16 Horsepower and this band, and are in the finest Americana tradition of Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’, Mellencamp's ‘Rough Harvest’ and most everything Tom Waits ever recorded. Best listened to driving down a desolate country road in a rusted-out Oldsmobile on a dry autumn evening.

That Appalachian country swagger and guttural Jim Carroll-like worldliness seen on earlier Wovenhand albums rear their head again in the form of a weekend night wild ride on “White Knuckle Grip”, a sauntering good-old-boy urban cowboy musical cruise along dark and foreboding streets of trouble and whiskey philosophy. Strange change of pace for this album, but probably not so strange considering the juxtaposition of faith and fallow lives this band so comfortably embraces.

Like I said before, Edwards’ other penchant is toward seminal cover tunes, including the Bill Withers R&B classic “Ain’t no Sunshine” on the band’s debut album; and John Fogerty’s “Bad Moon Rising” and Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” with 16 Horsepower. On this album Edwards adopts the late A.C. Jobim’s bossa nova standard “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” (“Corcovado”) as his own, a song that has been recorded by everyone from Miles Davis to Cliff Richard to Queen Latifah. Under Edwards’ supervision the tune takes on the semblance of a morbid, almost fatalistic existential lament. Possibly one of the weirdest and most disturbing jazz covers ever recorded.

The band reflect their mountain Western roots with the rollicking, almost post-punk wailing tribute to the old Kiowa Native American chief Kicking Bird on the song of the same name. An interesting figure to honor, as Kicking Bird was widely derided by follow Indians back in the 19th century as he became one of the first to treaty with the U.S. government, only to see the treaty broken and his people herded into Oklahoma reservations far from their ancestral mountain home; and himself dead at the suspected hand of a saboteur from his own race.

More of the acoustic punk-meets-bluegrass dirge that landed 16 Horsepower the label of ‘goth-country’ on the angry and stark “Kingdom of Ice”, another heavily acoustic song with sarcastic overtones on the false sense of power and control over nature and self-determination exhibited by modern man.

The band brings things home to roost with the peaceful, eagle-soaring-across-a-mountain-range “His Loyal Love”, written by band bassist Pascal Humbert and sounding all the world like a nature hymn sung in an open meadow. A peaceful ending to a raucous and otherwise disturbing album. The band adds a short flourish with an instrumental soundscape to close things out.

As an American who has lived through the high point of our landing men on the Moon and finding a cure for polio, to the current state of watching a once great nation possibly wheezing out its death throes caused by decades of excess, hubris and arrogance; I sometimes feel that there is little tolerance or interest in exploring and reflecting on the generations of experiences that brought us to where we are. But it is important to do so nonetheless, and also important (as is the case with any peoples) to understand the elements that make up one’s whole. Wovenhand have moved beyond the pale of traditional Americana music to a new place that is both frightening and morbidly fascinating: one can’t help but be drawn in and repulsed at the same time. Anything that can cause such powerful emotions must be considered an experience worth having, for the enlightenment it brings if nothing else. This is not a musical masterpiece, but it is an essential tapestry of a conflicted and complex people who continue to grow, thrive and survive despite all odds (and possibly even despite natural order and justice). Like I said, it is what it is, so enjoy the show.

peace

Originally not intended as more than just a one shot thing, while 16 HP was on hold for feud reasons, Woven Hand's debut album is one that sounds still much like many indie/alternative rock groups with definite folk tendencies. With an amusing computer-derived artwork gracing the entire booklet, this first album is mostly DEE by himself, with a few guests, such as Taylor on guitar on half the tracks and McMahon on keys for a third of the album. Musically, this album is much related to the late 16 HP albums, offering a similar "sound" that is easily confused between the two projects. In WH, the acoustic string instruments are more prominent than on 16 HP, but the folk is not over-powering by any means.

The lead-off Good Hand track sounds like a very positive and folk-inspired U2-type of rock, which actually misleads a bit from WH's usual music program. Indeed the following My Russia is a much darker tale (that will find also its way into the next album, along with the Ain't No Sunshine cover, Story & Pictures and the other Russia tracks), but never really gothic (at least imho) and staying in fairly short song format. Faves of mine include Blue Pail Fever and Wooden Brother, but also most common tracks you'll find in their next album. The diminutive Last Fist closes the album in a neat fashion, a very folk solo affair, much like Glass Eye, where mandolin and banjo rules.

This "debut" album holds much material on other albums (or more like other albums have re-worked material from this debut), especially on Blush Music, but I find that generally the repeat performances more spectacular there than in this disc. Better get first Blush Music than this debut, partly because, past the common tracks, the non-communal material in better on the second album.

2.5 stars really!!

Third studio album from this side project of 16 HP, but by now most likely DEE's main occupation, and this one seems to be more in the mould of the debut album, rather than the "special project" of Blush Music. By this time, 16 HP was history or almost and clearly DEE was saving his best for this "offshoot" project. In some ways, this album is more of a full group effort of sorts, as three of the eight tracks would indicate, while the other half sees DEE playing most of the instruments himself. I'd like to take the readers back to the first paragraphs of my review of WH's Blush Music, to clear some possible confusion between the terms of folk and country.

The album starts strongly enough with two group efforts, the enthralling (almost enthusiasting) Sparrow Falls and the much sombre Bleary Eyed Duty and later on Speaking Hands are probably the centrepieces on which the album was built, but neither are very representative of the album. To Make A Ring introduces drones-a-go-go and a violin and bathes into a slightly mid-Eastern ambiance, while Oil On Panel manages a rather positive atmosphere (at least musically), but that's about it in terms of quality as the rest of the albums basks and stews in its own putrefaction, fed by DEE's insane and insalubrious religious molasses, that should better be kept quiet, rather than sprawled over a disc.

Off the Cuff is a rather difficult and disjointed no-sense track to "get" and is probably bringing its share of critics on the album as a whole, due to its central positioning in the track list. The following Chest Of Drawers basks in its insignificance and fails to produce the slightest hint of interest, while Tin Forest sounds like just another Banjo tune, something that he's done better on other albums. The album ends on the eerie but thankfully short Into The Piano, which is almost unbearable in its despair, but doesn't come close to Rock Bottom in terms of credibility.

Consider the Birds is certainly not Woven Hand's better album, actually it seems like a very confused affair, caught between the debut album (not supposed to be a multi-album project) and the post rock tricks and deeds picked up on Blush Music, but fails to capitalize on it the way the following album Mosaic will. In defence of this album, one might say that this might be a more personal album, but I think that every album of DEE is incredibly personal, and this one not any more than others, just a much lesser one. Your call, but I'll pass on it.

I was never sure whether this album is coming from the choreographed Ultima Vez (one last time) dance show in Belgium or that the music in the present album was taken to form the show. In either case, the studio album is a real pleasure to listen to, even if you don't appreciate dark music. As a matter of fact, the dark aspects can be easily forgotten in most of WH's works. I usually don't do this, but I'd like to address my colleague's reviews of this group's oeuvre, that although it is a dark and gloomy world with some severe religious overtone, it's easy to by pass these "flaws" and just enjoy it for what it is: good folk rock albums, in which, contrarily to my colleague Clem, I hear absolutely no country, but well different forms of folk music. I think it's important to make the distinction between Eastern (shall we say Appalachian folk musics) and Western (country & western and country rock), the barrier being roughly the Mississippi River, with the Louisiana Cajun and Acadian particularities siding on the Eastern side. This notion is essential to progheads' relatively natural hate for anything remotely country-esque, and therefore not being afraid of my trusted collab Clem's use of the "country" terminology.

Another thing: even if I lose a certain facet of DEE's music, being atheist I have no intention on deciphering his weird religious beliefs and frankly I invite you to do the same without fear of subliminal contagion. Apparently most of the instruments seem to be played by DEE himself, bar some piano from accomplice McMahon and drums by longtime associate Garrison.

After a normal folk rock opening, riddled with banjo picking, the album plunges into the mammoth (14-mins) and repetitive Animalistos, better heard as Ain't No Sunshine, starting with a lengthy gloomy and dronal post-rock intro, taking its sweet time to really kick off. Once it does (by the end of the fourth minute), the track builds slowly, obviously taking every meander of dirt roads and night time riding, often interrupted by sound effects (children plays & XX) but picking up immediately after where it had left off, thus creating a very dramatic climate throughout the track. White Bird brings some hope and a welcome change, with its Zep/Unledded feel (DEE sounds sometimes like Robert Plant in the new millennium), but it all too soon over. Another highlight is the uberdonker 8-mins Snake Bite, where over half the track is taken up as a strong brooding intro, full of dronal distorted and torured instruments, before an incredible cello takes over menacingly over nearly-sinking wooden ship creaks and slowly turning into complete madness..

How to follow up such a depressing end? By starting on a very bright and hopeful keyboard line, which My Russia does, before slowly veering towards acoustic guitars and out-of-this-world (unidentified) bass surges.

Returning creepy wooden ship creaks and whispers are somewhat chilling the listener in Aeolian Harp with a mouthed foghorn make a slow transition for DEE's guttural vocals, making sound insane as only Buckley Sr. or Wyatt could've, but on a much different key. Even the surprisingly loud drums starting Another White Bird are not enough to shake us fromour torpor, even if this is from far the most upbeat track of the album, again sounding slightly Zeppelinesque (or should I say Plant-esque?), before the album closes in a very moody and abstract tune Story And Pictures (again heard elsewhere). And more creaks. ¸ The album goes on the same solemn gloomy mode, a very even affair with no weak points and generally the spell cast on you is long durable enough to urge to press play another time. There is an hypnotic nature to WH's themes, one that sets a bit uneasy, because the album is not a happy one, even if there are many moments of solemn beauty even in its full creepiness. Might just be WH's best album (tied with Mosaic, IMHO) and it constructed from a slightly different mould than the other three albums.

4.5 stars really!!!!

WH's third album is easily their most spectacular to date, both musically and in terms of the superb artwork of the digipack encapsulating the album. Eugene Edwards's second project (after the famous Sixteen Horsepower) is definitely much more interesting to progheads as it delves deeply into old European traditional folks, even sometimes going back to pre-classical times, but never going into country music realm. It is rather surprising to see that much of today's most progressive forms of folk music deals with the old European forms, but are all explored by new world artistes like Faun Fables, P.G. Six, Espers, Long Live Death (all listed in the PA) and of course Woven Hand.

Out of the starting blocks with the atmospheric intro Breathing Bull, the album gets right down to business with the spine-chilling Winter Shaker and its awesome and awe-inspiring Celtic solemnity, this track has us hanging on the edge of out seat, partly because of the really tense banjo lines (yup, even the banjo can sound prog ;o))) and very expressive vocals. It must be noted that Winter Shaker is the archetypal WH sound, and the group will use and abuse this "niche" sound up to unwise levels, both on this album and the previous ones. So don't be surprised to have a déjà-entendu feeling as the disc goes further along. Another strong feature in WH's sound is the dramatic singing, with plenty of justified reverb, somewhere between Bono (Bullet the Blue Sky) and Thom Yorke. Anyway, there is a real "sound" to this album, when the following Swedish Purse starts from zero, builds up to the same solemn ambiance of Winter Shaker, but soon breaks it up for adorable banjo/keyboards exchanges.

Most tracks are kept short, most of them gliding on drones of low frequency, seemingly coming from the planet's wombs and others synth layers flying upstairs. Whistling Girl features a delightful piano answering to banjo and guitars arpeggios. Plenty of atmospherics are also provided in short intros or full interlude (Twig) and some special effects sprinkled around also bring the level of intrigue: besides the shell and maracas percussion, what are those lo-freq double shots in Bible and Bird? Mystery.. Incredibly interesting strings add even more tension in Dirty Blue, while another violin creeps out from the medieval depths of the Mid-East over drones (close to didgeridoos, but that's not it) and Ullean Pipes in Full Armor. There is even a delightful harp intro in the album-closing Little Haven, before slow moaning chants close the proceedings.

While they are very enthralling to progheads, WH is not really a full-blown prog band, just like the mothership 16HP is not one either, both bands probably better described as indie or alternative (folk) rock and certainly not searching complexity for its sake, but their overall aesthetics easily makes this side-project a fully deserved inclusion. A real must-hear for those still hesitating. Coz you won't be for long once you've heard bits of it.

Well it seems that David Eugene Edwards has sprung head-first into post-rock land with his latest release. The Woven Hand albums have gotten progressively more abstract and electronic since the first (and possibly best) with its eclectic instrumentation, very tasteful rationing of sounds, and entrée-sized lyrics.

Like ‘Blush’, the other Woven Hand collaboration with dance troupe Ultima Vez, this CD is only available via mail-order from its German label Glitterhouse Records, or if you’re lucky from an independent reseller. The photos and artwork are interesting, but don’t really give any more insight into the music than the ones that accompanied ‘Blush’.

Some tracks like “Breathing Bull”, “Shun” and “Lulah Harp” are not much more than several minutes of drone and mild feedback only somewhat accented by humming and the occasional tinkle of nondescript percussive instruments. “Twig” and “Lena’s Song” sound like nothing more than very faint feedback and rambling spoken-word bits from an old guy that don’t really make much sense. Still others, particularly “Horse Head”, “Low Estate” and “Dirty Blue” at least feature Edwards’ life-weary vocals, acoustic guitar and drums, and a perceptible sense of purpose.

To be fair “Breathing Bull” features rather A Silver Mt. Zion-like discordant violin work by Elin Palmer, who apparently gives violin lessons to Edwards’ daughter in her offstage life. Nice connection. And “Lulah Harp” does have strands of what sound like Edwards playing the banjola featured on his first two studio albums. But overall this is quite a bit removed from the more grounded and more Americana sound of his early work, and really a bit closer to the grungy sound of his former band 16 Horsepower. “Silver Saddle” is the closing number and probably best represents that balance of all these sounds, but it still comes across as more experimental indie than it does progressive folk.

The transition from “Twig” to “Dirty Blue” includes a short ranting spoken-word passage that sounds an awful lot like the guy who performed a similar role on the Butthole Surfers ‘Locust Abortion Technician’ album back in 1987. I wonder if it is the same guy? That would be an interesting bit of trivia to know.

My personal favorite on this album is the short but warm instrumental “Dirty Blue”, mostly because it is almost devoid of recorded sound effects, is light on the drone, and features Ms. Palmer’s appreciable talent on violin.

I fell for Woven Hand the first time I heard them, and I still think David Eugene Edwards is one of the brilliant minds in folk music today. But I wonder if he’s doing these dance-act ‘soundtracks’ out of a sense of artistic purpose, or just to pay the bills?

This recording doesn’t really excite me all that much, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone just starting to discover this artist. I would suggest starting with the Woven Hand debut, then ‘Consider the Birds’, and then check out 16 Horsepower’s 2002 release ‘Folklore’. This one is probably just for collectors, but the parts of it that feature actual music are very well executed, and if this were a young up-and-coming band instead of David Eugene Edwards I would probably be less harsh, so we’ll settle for barely three stars and move on.

peace

‘Mosaic’ is the latest offering from David Eugene Edwards, recorded and mixed like the other Woven Hand works at Studio Absinthe in Elktooth, Colorado. This was a winter recording, and the harsh coldness of the Rocky Mountain winter comes through very strongly throughout the record. This is Edwards’ darkest and most coarse album to-date, much closer to the heavier work of his former band 16 Horsepower than the first three Woven Hand records.

Edwards seems to have become progressively more abrasive over the past several years, with Woven Hand’s music evolving musically from borderline Appalachian folk to this latest very stark and sometimes dismal Americana goth sort of thing. The folk instruments are mostly gone here, as they were on his previous release ‘Consider the Birds’, and the placement of sonic drone and recorded sounds is much more prevalent than before. This record actually reminds me a lot of Opeth’s ‘Damnation’.

In addition to his convincing ‘Scary Monsters’ Bowie-like sound, Edwards also seems to have boned up on his Doors discography, with several tracks having the same sort of doom emotion and Morrisonesque vocals. “Winter Shaker” and “Twig” are the most notable, but most of the tracks could be seen as fitting into this category.

There are exceptions. On “Whistling Girl” Edwards’ banjola makes a return appearance, along with long-time associate Daniel McMahon on piano. This is the grunge-meets-country sound Edwards perfected with the first Woven Hand album, and is probably his most appealing. “Bible and Bird” is another track that fits this description and is the most striking instrumental on the album, as is “Little Raven/Shun” although this one is a even more base and despairing than the rest of the album.

But his music isn’t about comfort and the familiar; rather, Edwards clearly feels some sort of sense of mission to make us uncomfortable in the way that art meant to evoke thought does. Like shock art, Woven Hand music challenges those who are lethargically coasting through life to look up and give some thought to the some of the basic questions of our shared humanity: evil, religion, despair, relationships. Lots of artists may attempt to capture the imagination and attention for the same purpose, but Woven Hand’s modern tempos and turgid lyrics have a dusty-road street cred that most music of similar vein does not.

The comparison to a young Johnny Cash is inescapable when one listens to David Eugene Edwards’ music. His sound is more modern, but the mood and the message are just as matter-of-fact and cold. This is the voice of the whiskey-soaked, wild-eyed and grizzled carnie evangelist lurching across a dilapidated wooden stage under a side tent at the Chautauqua traveling fair, his twisted and rotting teeth and sun-cracked lips spewing out dire warnings of hell, damnation and the apocalypse to a dull crowd who are both willing participants and at the same time repulsed by the man and by the message. Good medicine often tastes bad, and if you’re not careful it can kill you.

peace

On the eve of his now-former band 16 Horsepower’s breakup, David Eugene Edwards released his third studio album under the name Woven Hand and embarked on a European tour. This album is quite a bit closer to Woven Hand’s debut – stark, foreboding music with poetic lyrics that seem to preach without actually condemning.

Edwards appears to have largely abandoned his banjola and mandolin for acoustic (and sometimes electric) guitar; and has also enlisted the help of some of his occasional live act accompaniment. Slim Cessna's Auto Club drummer Ordy Garrison and bassist Shane Trost, and Lilium keyboardist Daniel McMahon fill out the lineup, and Garrison would accompany Edwards on the supporting European tour over the winter of 2004.

The key traits of Woven Hand’s first album are all here again: brooding lyrics that matter-of-factly point to the Cross while at the same time wallow in the barrenness that is Edwards’ view of humanity; heavy bass and plodding drums; and strategically placed drone, piano and sound effects.

A few of these tracks have apparently become staples in the act’s play list: “Bleary Eyed Duty”, “The Speaking Hands” and “To Make a Ring” are liberally sprinkled across the internet in the form of live choppy videos destined for youTube.

Edwards manages to elicit the same sense of barely-controlled sanity akin to David Bowie circa ‘Low’ or ‘Scary Monsters’ on tracks like “Bleary Eyed Duty” and “Oil on Panel”, while others like “”Off the Cuff” and “”Into the Piano” are barely perceptible works that teeter on the edge of despair with confusing lyrics that either point the lost to the Savior or lament the hopelessness of The Struggle, depending on your perspective.

“Tin Finger” is the closest the group comes to the hillbilly folk sound of the last couple of 16 Horsepower albums and the Woven Hand debut, with Edwards picking away on his banjola and whispering, unintelligible voices evoking the mood of the Garden of Gethsemane scene from ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Creepy stuff.

I haven’t quite come to a position on my feelings for Edwards’ lyrical messages and their relevance to his listeners, but the raw emotions induced by his music is rich fodder for contemplation regardless. The novelty of his sound has somewhat worn off by this third album, but Edwards manages to introduce new sounds that seem inspired by Eastern European folk solemnity and any number of road-weary post rockers. This is an excellent album for the most part, although I would have enjoyed a little more eclectic use of instrumentation like Woven Hand’s first album featured. No matter, I’ll go with four stars for ‘Consider the Birds’ and recommend this music to just about any prog or folk music fan.

peace