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Gordon Grdina: Oddly Enough: The Music Of Tim Berne
ByThen there are his farm-outspianist Matt Mitchell's solo piano outing, Forage (Screwgun Records, 2017), a dark, nuanced, sedate, and at times prickly and consistently beautiful recital that, on a blind listen, probably wouldn't be identified as a set of Berne tunes.
Next up in the farm-out list, guitarist Gordon Grdina's Oddly Enough, where he interprets the music of Tim Berne, with his acoustic guitar, classical guitar, electric/Midi guitar, oud and dobro. The record is another Covid disc, recorded by Grdina over the course of a year, with Berne sending the guitarist a tune, which Grdina would record and send back. The process repeated itself, one composition at a time, until Oddly Enough came into being.
Oddly Enough is more recognizably Berne-ian than the previously mentioned Forage. It is harmonically complex and free, foreboding and mysterious. The use of the Midi guitar brings enhanced texturing, like a grunge band echoing off the cement floor in a spacious garage. Grdina approaches Berne's near chaotic sound with a combination of fractured stateliness, interludes of aggression, moments of classical music reflection and Americana moods, proving, once again, that Tim Berne picks his farm-out projects well.
Oddly Enough: The Music Of Time Berne shines fresh light on another facet of the dark diamond of Berne's unwavering vision.
Track Listing
Oddly Enough; Don't use Hair Products; Trauma One; Lost In Redding; Enord Krad; Snippet; Plaint Squids.
Personnel
Gordon Grdina
oudAdditional Instrumentation
Gordon Grdina: electric/Midi guitar, classical guitar, acoustic guitar, oud, dobro.
Album information
Title: Oddly Enough: The Music Of Tim Berne | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Attaboygirl Records
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