PUUR

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