Accidents With Nature
Harris Newman- gtr., lapsteel
Bruce Cawdron- perc., glockenspiel
For most of my life I’ve been enamored of the nuevo folk Takoma label that came out of the 60s. Newman takes that sound (especially the John Fahey element) with its blending of American folk and Middle Eastern harmonics and reshapes it. The instruments used are acoustic, but Newman and Cawdron sometimes make them sound electronic, apparently with tape manipulation. It’s all pretty Faheyesque until “It’s a Trap” introduces more idiosyncratic sound suggesting plaintive, prairie-like psychic landscapes. From here on, this is the shape of the album. Newman is with this cd still somewhat under Fahey’s shadow, but a good two-thirds of the material here show him claiming a plot of land as his own- a darker, moodier, lonelier place than the Takoma boys have. It’s worth your time.
Strange Attractors
SA H029
P.O. Box 13007
Portland, Oregon 97213-0007
Richard Grooms