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Folk, singer-songwriter, Americana, allemaal goed.

Not exactly upbeat tunes, this collection leans heavily in a melodically intense melancholy swamp of the senses.  

I like Berman’s choice of words in many of his songs. He stretches the boundary & he succeeds. Very few cliches. His songs are tasty side orders to John Prine, Townes van Zandt & John Mellencamp (in his darker excursions).  

Eddie Berman has a low husky tonality to his voice, but it suits the folk-rock genre he mines. His voice is mindful of the late Fred Neil, but not quite the late Scott Walker. The material is well-sculptured. Showcased in rich arrangements. 

The LP gets off to a slow start but by “Stay Dark,” “Time Waits For No Man,” & especially “Broken English,” the tunes start to penetrate the ears. With the title track, the heavy machinery instrumentation with its dark atmospherics & well-constructed lyrics flirts with deep dug emotions. Berman sings in a Leonard Cohen deep tone but Eddie rocks more than Cohen. His voice has an edge instead of romanticism.  

Broken English  provides 11-cuts that aren’t going to grab everyone on first listen, but with “Dust & Clay,” Berman’s vocal veneer is close to songwriter Tony Powers’ vocal grit (“Don’t Nobody Move, This is a Heist”). Powers’ is known as the author of the doo-wop hit “Remember Then,” “98.6,” & “Lazy Day,” among others. But Tony’s solo material is not at that sugary level.  

There’s lots of depth to Berman’s approach to these songs if listeners take time to listen. The use of sublime brass & the pound of piano notes (similar to Powers’) creates a luxuriant performance. 

Portland-based Eddie Berman recorded & produced this with his bandmates remotely. Multi-instrumentalist Gabe Feenberg & drummer Max MacVeety. Together they created an effective atmospheric moody heavy bass charged slick synthesis of many genres. There’s a mouthful. 

Tracks:
1. Taurus (3:41)
2. Skin of the Earth (3:29)
3. Stay Dark (2:38)
4. Time Waits for No Man (3:19)
5. Broken English (4:20) 
6. Dust & Clay (4:41)
7. The Wheel (3:31) 
8. Cherokee Rose (3:52)
9. Water in the Barrel (3:37)
10. Leviathan (3:55)
11. Song of Joy (2:50)

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster. Laat af en toe eens weten wat je van het album vindt. Altijd leuk, de mening van anderen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqvGJDwNsS4