3 out of 5

Label: Sounds Familyre

Producer: David Eugene Edwards

Somewhere between this partially re-worked version of the self-titled album and that disc itself lies an amazing Woven Hand experience.  …There was 16 Horsepower, with its folkified gloom, and then Mr. Eugene Edwards shed that band, shed some of the stomp, and got himself some new players and a stripped-down, strummier, gloomier (!), more… spiritual sound.  For a while, until the band sort of remorphed into 16HP again, but whatever.  After the relatively ‘mainstream’ sound of HP’s ‘Secret South’ and then the sorta’ un-albumness that followed (live, then covers, then acoustic) when it was announced that DEE was starting Woven Hand, it was a pretty exciting deal, wrapped around hopes that it would breathe new life into the very distinct sound he and his bandmates had carved out.

Self-titled didn’t exactly breathe, though.  It gave us the roots for where Woven would go, but its a pretty solemn affair, despite having some excellent themes and lyrics and, buried beneath the slow, ponderous nature of the disc – songs.  (When I listen to it more in earnest for a review, perhaps my feelings will change.)  Then, pretty close after that debut, along comes ‘Blush Music.’  But what what what’s this… aren’t these the same goddamn tracks?

Sorta.  I’ll be honest – I can’t quite decide on what’s brand new outside of the instrumentals, and what’s been re-recorded, and what’s just been reworked.  ‘Another White Bird’ seems like a new song to me, but I believe the rest of these are featured on the original album… though some of that mercurial nature is what made the self-titled disc lack full-on memorability.  However, these aren’t traditionally remixed tracks, either way.  They are entirely new experiences, re-presented as a score to an avant garde dance company’s work… Blush.  So Edwards has added intense passages of birds, and kids burbling, and houses creaking and lonely nature noises into and around the tracks, lengthening each selection to about seven minutes.  This makes this a more drawn out listen, something to do in one sitting, and renders even those songs which might’ve once been ‘singles,’ such as the ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ cover, into effectively creepy and crawly ponderous experiences.  But it just doesn’t gel completely.  ‘Sunshine’ is a good indication, with the instrumental portion parting way for the song not quite organically (it feels layered, and that doesn’t feel like the point), and then to force the organics of the song, its played out at length, repeating the chorus / verse a few times too many before it abruptly ends for our next shimmering instrumental.

The noise tracks, mostly intercut between songs, are perfect.  And the slow build-up to the existing songs are perfect, bringing in one element at a time.  And whether or not it actually was, the music sounds re-recorded, cleaning it up and dusting off some reverb and giving it some backbone, so that the strums and drums really ring out powerfully.  But it hobbles around both causes, neither ambient soundscape or folky album 100%, and thus still doesn’t ‘stick’ the way the more developed WH sound would come to.  Underlining this, once more, is that the track that I identify as new – ‘Another White Bird’ – feels right, composed along with the groans, growing with them and not just squeezed in.

(Of course, I could be wrong on that being a new song for this collection, in which case…  *cough*)