Ok, first of all, the track indexing on this is all screwed up and I can't be arsed fixing it. Sorry. Now that that's out of the way:
This is a really strange outsider/real people acoustic record, apparently performed by (or at least in the persona of) a grizzled Irish gravedigger. Some spoken word sections that break out into songs performed in an untutored yet ambitious, and by no means unpleasant, brogue-heavy croon. Moods range from the wistfullness of the opening "Master Wunder" and "I Wrote Your Name", to the scarred and nightmarish war meditation "Pieces in the Sand", which is shot through with coal-black veins of bitterness. The minimal acoustic guitar backing is competently played with a pleasant ringing quality, due to the reverb that covers this record. While this record sometimes veers into overreaching pomposity, the abiding tone of amateur earnestness keeps it compelling. Now, someone find me a vinyl copy.
It is more likely he is from Nova Scotia based on the last name and the accent.
ReplyDeleteNo I am not the same Mark. :-)