Culture Clash (Review 1)

Sunday Herald Sun June 29 1997

This gumbo of sampled American blues and live European classic sounds is a strange dish.

The timbre of harmonicas and guitars is not something you would expect to successfully meld with the stately European orchestral structures, but surprisingly it often works.

The trick is in the mix and, if nothing else, this album is a technological and sonic wonder.

The producers borrowed blues riffs including John Lee Hooker's Slow and Easy, John Henry Barbee's I Ain't Gonna Pick No More Cotton and Lightnin' Hopkins' Down To The River.

Then they recorded young classical musicians, and with some deft behind-the-scenes work, interwove the blues and some modern rhythms.

The result is often like a dense movie soundtrack. Whatever your favourite musical style, this is worth hearing.

Reproduced without permission from the Sunday Herlad Sun for private and research purposes only.