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a r t i s t : The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden
t i t l e : Live At VPRO Radio
d a t e : 2006
l a b e l : Brainwashed Handmade Series [HAND-002]
g e n r e : Folk
r l s. d a t e : February/2006
t r a c k s : 07
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 64,4 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
This recording does what all good radio sessions do and then some.
Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Padden (Volcano the Bear) has loosened his
grip on the material from his virtually solo The Owl of Fives LP and
recast it live with a ferociously elegant quintet. The performance of
these seven pieces (some new at the time of recording and some re-titled
excursions) are as open as they can possibly be while still holding in
place the identifiable elements that define the song. The opening
scrape, saw, and rattle of ╥Clown Flinging╙ is a deceptive beginning to
a song steered by intricate strings and a mournfully sharp bouzouki
melody. The instrument╒s clinking metallic chimes clank perfectly
against the ever-reliable genius of Alex Neilson╒s (Jandek/Taurpis Tula)
free percussion work. When Padden╒s own sing-along drunken caterwaul
intertwines with the swooning viola, it╒s obvious that this set of songs
has design at its core despite the slack reins. For a set of songs
written and performed by the bandleader, Padden is surprisingly open
with the improvisational spotlight. There╒s never the feeling that
anyone is softened or curtailed from going with the freer flows by a
diktat from Padden. The players are more than capable of bringing the
most in the possibility of improvisations within these compositions. The
album╒s air is thick with the sweat and steam of Eastern European
traditional Gypsy music, heavy doses of Klezmer, touches of Flamenco,
and Russian stylings. The cello and voluptuary viola build and capture
the gorgeous driving windswept widescreen feel of these ineffably
romantic genres. The One Ensemble of Daniel Padden may mine same
territory as acts like A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Silver Mt. Zion, and Black
Ox Orkestar, but this release packs in many more obvious moments of
passion and merriment. Themes like ╥Weevils╙ and the strong rhythmic
element of ╥Mustard Mustard╙ help conjure dancing desert ingÄnues and
other unhelpfully atrocious stereotypes, but there╒s magic here. Where
some of the eclecticism of Padden╒s solo and group studio work can
sometimes sound like the kitchen sink wasn╒t too far away, this has
everything in its right place. The mixture of traditional and the spirit
of exploration give the music a fire and a passion that doesn╒t seem to
be boiling over in much ╥modern╙ music lately. Padden╒s rousing shouts
and chants (alongside another unidentifiable band members) add to the
energy levels urging the band onwards toward almost anthemic heights.
The music╒s complexity and the band╒s obvious vigour set a high
benchmark for followers. The classical look of the handmade letterpress
sleeve only adds to the overall impression that this is something
special. VPRO have been lucky enough to catch one of those rare moments
in time when a band are truly on fire.
I must admit to being rather dismissive about much of the current wave
of so-called "free folk," and certainly I've also been guilty of
declaring much of the music it has produced as being the product of an
insufferable scenesterism. However, I've also been among the first to
praise the truly worthy examples of the genre, and this new release by
The One Ensemble of Daniel Padden clearly demonstrates that amazing work
continues to come out of the new folk zeitgeist. For all of the
undeniably interesting music, performance and aesthetic ingenuity that
this scene has produced, it has also spawned an equal amount of
talentless opportunism and obnoxious marketing, and a surplus of
overpriced limited CD-Rs and LPs filled with senseless cacophony of
questionable musical value. I mean, how many different ways are there
for a bunch of unshaved bohos to pound tunelessly on a bunch of
instruments they never bothered learning how to play, anyway? Live at
VPRO Radio was recorded live in 2004, in a performance by the Ensemble
for the famous Dutch radio station, and it's one of the most stunning
live albums I've ever heard, without a doubt. The performance captured
in this radio session easily eclipses Daniel Padden's two studio albums,
and also exceeds the rather high standards set by his previous work with
Volcano the Bear. The seven tracks on this CD showcase a marvelously
talented composer and arranger leading an ensemble of adept musicians
through his startlingly unique sound world. Far from sounding like some
slapdash, impromptu assemblage thrown together for a one-off gig, the
group sounds as if they were born to play Padden's songs, and after
hearing this album, it's hard to imagine them playing anything else as
well or convincingly. As on his studio albums, Padden freely borrows
from the '60s psychedelic folk of groups like The Incredible String
Band, along with a wide variety of disparate ethnic musics, but unlike
his albums, which often sounded jarringly eclectic, Live at VPRO Radio
sounds gloriously cohesive: a triumphant spontaneous creation of a
wholly idiosyncratic style of folk music. Though it is tempting to pick
through and try to identify specific ethnic signifiers in this beautiful
melodies created here by bouzouki, cello, guitar, viola and drums, all
of the music here feels of a piece. Under the supervision of Padden,
this group effortlessly draws upon a veritable constellation of
tantalizingly familiar musical traditions--Jewish Klezmer, Gypsy,
Russian and British trad-folk, etc.--but at the same time, manages never
to directly reference any of them. Many of the songs are radically
reworked versions of tracks that originally appeared on 2004's The Owl
of Fives, but they have been retrofitted to work within the live
ensemble context, and arrive much the better for these alterations. I
mentioned ISB, and while the comparison seens an appropriate one, it
also fails to get across the power and ferocity of these performances,
many which build to loud, celebratory climaxes, Padden enthusiastically
egging the band on with non-verbal chanting and cajoling. Though the
players are drawn mostly from the free folk scene, it is perhaps
inaccurate to refer to this album as a work of free folk, as each song
is clearly a work of composition. However, the performances captured
here do not seem over-determined or rigidly rehearsed. On the contrary,
it seems as if the group feels perfectly confident to travel outside of
the lines of Padden's songs, and his songs provide a wonderfully loose
structure upon which subtle group dynamics and improvisatory passages
can play an important part. I can't be the only one who has often
wondered if ensembles like Sunburned Hand of the Man or Jackie-O
Motherfucker might be better and more reliable if they actually took the
time to write some songs. There isn't a moment of wasted space or
directionless meandering on Live at VPRO Radio, because the group can
always fall back on the strong backbone of Padden's impressive songs.
Live at VPRO Radio is a gorgeous and hypnotic work that joyously trips
and tumbles through a dark, mediaeval wonderland that exists only on an
astral plane; a collection of whimsical funeral dirges for a merry band
of wandering monks intoxicated on bad liquor and thujone. It is a
collection of hymns to wood sprites and elves; it is the soundtrack to
suddenly noticing the glorious spectacle of an ant crawling up a tree
trunk carrying a leaf. It is a magical conjuring act by a group of
trickster alchemists wandering in a foreign land. It is often all of
these things and sometimes none of them, but it is always unmistakably
beautiful music. - Jonathan Dean, Brainwashed
_______________________________________________________________________
01-Clown Flinging [06:47]
02-Mustard Mustard [06:51]
03-Baltic Antiquarian [04:38]
04-Sleep Norway Sleeo [05:15]
05-Weevils [07:22]
06-The Tumble Waltz [08:35]
07-Farewell You Porcupine [05:15]
-------
44:43 min