posted 06/06/2008 (Fri) @ 08:34 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Andrew Collins - Little Widgets (2005)
Fireflies, bluegrass and Jimi’s ghost
- Little Widgets
- Sunlight at Midnight
- Pendleton Murray
- Pleasantville
- Prelude from Cello Suite No. 3
- Blue Ming
- Dickering Al
- The Yellow Barber
- Old Republic
- Bottom’s Dream
- Riding Off Into The Sunset
In space, no one can hear you scream–an age old adage rarely adhered to by Hollywood. After all, with no sound in space (and no fire either, for the most part…), how can space scenes and battles in the sky possibly be enthralling? The short-lived but well-loved science fiction television series Firefly had the answer: mandolin.
Like Cowboy Bebop, which employed jazz & blues courtesy of Yoko Kanno and her band the Seatbelts, the formula seems to work rather well: roots music against a void of stars and human drama. Purely from a music listener’s standpoint, though, the void is being filled, not emptied. Jazz, blues, bluegrass: yesterday’s pop is today’s underground. There are gems in every genre of music, but those gems can be especially shiny to listeners who only rarely step outside their comfort zone of rock and pop.
“Little Widgets” is a delightful set from Andrew Collins, a modern “newgrasser” with his thumbs simultaneously on the pulse of new and old worlds. The mandolin is his calling card, but mandola, mandocello, guitar and fiddle also feature in this self-composed, produced and performed disc, showcasing Collins’ impressive ability in every area. All eleven songs are instrumental, and vary in style from upbeat, fast-paced and incredibly enjoyable newgrass (”Little Widgets,” “Sunlight At Midnight,” “Pendleton Murray”) to jazz (”Blue Ming”), to more old timey ‘grass cuts like “The Yellow Barber.”
It becomes clear that Collins can easily claim virtuoso status from the very first notes of “Little Widgets,” a lightning-paced mandolin picker; the mando is soon joined by a scratchy, rootsy and loveable violin. The fiddle shrieks and croons on “Sunlight at Midnight,” a tune which comes off both slow and fast, exhibiting the dynamic range of acoustic music (something to which current, over-compressed, radio & iPod-bound generations have little exposure) and Collins’ indisputable talent as a composer. If fast-paced isn’t your bag, there are alternatives: a Bach cello suite (”Prelude from Cello Suite No. 3″), the bucolic, harmonic-laden lullaby “Bottom’s Dream,” or appropriately-titled “Riding Off Into The Sunset” are all winners, too. The clear standout, though, is track three, “Pendleton Murray,” which conjures images of hayseeds chasing hound dogs via effortless mando plucking and near-ethereal violin swaying.
Oddballers, this is your game. ‘Grass fans, you’re sure to dig it, too. Yahoo for “Little Widgets”!
Fans of “oddball” instrumental virtuosos might also appreciate the wonderful Ba Cissoko, who channel Hendrix’s ghost via the kora, a 21-string lute from Africa.
Tags: bluegrass, folk, folk rock, mandolin, newgrass, one man band, virtuoso
