Customer Reviews

Folklore

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Their fifth studio album showed 16 Horsepower sounding more confident and less self-consciously arty than ever before, without compromising any of their distinctness. Much of the band's normal brimstone is absent, and their music's spooky, ethereal quality is being replaced by a sorrowful worldliness. The music and tales remains haunting - David Eugene Edwards still has souls on his mind, but there's more room for indulging in earthly pleasures and a joyous yawp or two that come across in the cover of the Carter Family classic, "Single Girl," and "La Robe a Parasol" (sung in French!).

16 Horsepower has never ignored the dark side of country, the dark side of folk. And Folklore is no exception. It is well crafted, haunting, and beautiful. They blend religion, old legends, violence, and love seamlessly. So many brilliant bands give into the mainstream, but 16 Horsepower is still defiant.

I picked this CD up today on a whim, having heard just a few 16HP tracks. I was under the impression that they were more southern rock, and I think this may be the case on their other albums. Folklore, however is a mix of traditional country (covering a Hank Williams tune) and folk music, with heavy, gothic overtones. I also bought Nick Cave's new CD today, and had it in queue behing Folklore. Several times I had to look see if the player hadn't moved on to the Cave album. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this CD later, but I took to it immediately, since I like dark music, like Cave, Waits, Cash, Mark Lanegan, etc. Think the "Oh Brother, Where art Thou?" soundtrack on downers and whiskey during a cold winter. I'm on the second listen now, and this is a standout album, that I think will be in heavy rotation for a long time.

When I first got this one, I hardly listened to it at all. (Partly because I was still listening to "Alice" and "Blood Money" from Tom Waits.)

But as 16HP fans know, their albums just need a few listens and maybe, late one night, just the right kind of mood... and, WHAM! there it is. The album hits you with its full force. Another incredible piece of work - I really think each album has been even better than the last with no exceptions.

I am not really sold on "Single Girl", but otherwise I have enjoyed all of the songs - especially "Outlaw Song", "Sinnerman", "Hutterite Mile", "Alone and Forsaken"... OK, OK, all the rest of them too! An incredible album. Beautiful and gorgeous. What can I say?

It is dark, yes, and brooding, and haunting. I have had a couple of scary moments walking alone through rainy, windy streets listening to "Horse Head Fiddle."

The songs are so perfectly, delicately constructed; his voice perfectly suited to the material. I can't recommend it enough.

I, like many it seems, was a little reserved when I first gave Folklore a listen. But it quickly grew on me the more I listened. It almost feels like a storytelling session. Edwards mixes traditional with new so well that it's impossible to decipher the two. He has the keen ability to make Hank Williams the most depressing artist of our time, while at the same time put a kick in my feet with a nice traditional French round. Hutterite Mile starts the album of nicely. Play it real loud in your car while you drive late at night down a deserted farm road and it's a spinetingling feeling. Edwards uses his unique voice to the best of his abilities here, and the results are yet again amazing and wholly reinventive.

I picked up this album the day it arrived in stores. Upon first listen I was somewhat dissapointed. I did not think it was a poor album, it just wasn't connecting with me the way their other albums did. But there was something that kept me returning to this album, many times each day. It was slowly growing on me. It lacks the frantic intensity of their earlier work but that driving force has been replaced with a more mature, subtle atmosphere which I believe holds a dark brilliance rarely experienced in contemporary music. I think the only fault of this album lies in its arrangement. I think it could have been improved if the songs were in a different order. The closing waltz just doesn't feel like a proper way to end the experience. But this doesn't merit any trepidation over buying this album. It is definitely 16 horsepower's least accesable album but it is also, perhaps, their most rewarding. Scattered throughout the album are what can only be described as musical epiphanies which only grow in power with each subsequent listen. I recommend this album wholeheartedly as I feel it represents an amazing band at the hight of their powers.

This album is a slight departure for the band. It is quite somber and sparse. At times, it's as if the music is merely a backdrop for David's lyrics. While this album contains all of the usual 16 Horsepower themes, they are presented here with restrained intensity. As any fan of 16 Horsepower knows, their albums take time to absorb, and this one is surely no different. Since I just got the album a couple of days ago, I am still getting used to it. I will say that the album maintains an even feel, for the most part: all of the songs are slow in tempo, with the exception of the Carter Family cover of "Single Girl," which I don't think fits particularly well on this album, and the final track, which is an up-tempo cajun flavored tune. The production quality of the album is first rate, and every nuance of each instrument is clearly heard---as you would expect from this band. Also, David's voice has never sounded better. For any true fan, this album would be a must-have, for a newcomer, try one of their earlier works.

I must qualify my rating; I just picked up the album yesterday, and have only listened to it a couple of times through. Therefore, my rating may be a little premature. As any fan of 16 Horsepower knows, each album takes time to absorb. I'm sure that after repeated listenings, this album will grow on me as the others have. But this is definitely a different type of album; it is extremely subdued, for the most part, and the instrumentation is very sparse. Many of the songs are very slow and droning, and it's almost as if the music is just a backdrop for David's tormented words. All of the usual 16 Horsepower themes are present, but they are presented with a much more restrained intensity. Although a change of pace within the album is a good idea, I'm not crazy about the Carter Family cover of "Single Girl." I just don't think it fits in with the rest of the album. I was surprised to learn that three for four of the songs are of European origin: namely, Hungary and Tuva (area in central Asia.) I will say that the sound quality of the album is excellent, as always, and every nuance of each instrument is clearly heard. Again, this is an early review, and may not do the album full justice. For true fans of 16 Horsepower, this album will most likely fulfill your longings. For those who have not heard them, I would suggest one of their earlier offerings.

In the wake of rumors of their imminent demise, the members of Sixteen Horsepower have produced what is perhaps their most compelling work to date. But don't buy this disc expecting to hear a progressive new sound from these gothabilly songsters. Rather join them for an often-harrowing trip across Appalachia and Europe visiting backwoods cabins and barren countrysides searching out their musical and cultural roots.

David Eugene Edwards, Pascal Humbert and Jean Yves Tola have crafted a complex and powerful homage of sorts to their progenitors. We witness how such musical influences as Hank Williams, The Carter Family and a fistfull of traditional folksongs have taken root in their fertile psyches and then blossomed into these ten songs, both beautiful and distressing to behold.

Taking a step back from the highly polished sound of their last group effort, "Secret South," "Folklore" is in a way their least accessible work to date, but inaccessibility has never frightened their truest fans. The songs with few exceptions master the brooding drone that has marked this band a unique and precious find among so many unremarkable efforts.

These songs are dark, among their darkest. A friend of mine once described 16hp's work (disparagingly I fear) as "music to contemplate a coffin by." At points during "Folklore" he might have not been too far off the mark. "Horse Head Fiddle" is so mist-shrouded and ethereal that one can hear the spirits of Tom Waits, Ry Cooder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan hovering in the carefully layered rhythms and drones. But we are here to witness influences and to welcome old friends.

This highly textured musicscape is at once triumphant and windswept. Far from the charming bluegrass-cum-rockabilly numbers of their past, the overall effect on "Folklore" is unsettling and unfamiliar. As in the past I found myself straining to distinguish the curious sound of a particular instrument, saying "What is that?" The sparse instrumentation, yet full of surprises and delights, lends a mood of general creepiness.

The opening lament, "Hutterite Mile," prepares us for a lonely journey through dark nights of introspection, struggle and regret. The driven "Sinnerman" is one of the clearest connections with their own history-an apocalyptic, darkly spiritual invocation.

Yet, the most memorable moments come in "Outlaw Song." David gives what might be his most remarkable vocal performance to date. He even seems to whinny at a crucial moment of this narrative piece, a traditional Hungarian folksong about a mystical horse and his death-defying rider. Again the instrumentation, while stark, is gripping and deeply affective.

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