Monday, May 3, 2010

Scott Tuma - Dandelion

Scott Tuma
Dandelion
(2010, Digitalis)
RIYL = Aaron Martin, Box Ensemble, Peter Broderick

Oh boy, it’s good to be back. There is so much good stuff to relay and folks, I have been sitting on this new Scott Tuma LP for far too long. First off, I’m pretty sure this is Tuma’s first solo album on wax, so that there is a pretty good reason for snatching this thing up quick (because if it’s not gone already, it will be). The second reason, which should really be the first, is it's Scott Tuma making the music. And yep, Mr. Tuma is in blessed form, ever the torch bearer for consistency and beautifully skeletal folk majesty. Dandelion is full up to every cobwebbed nook an cranny with Tuma’s elegant guitars and banjos pinging gently over the top of one another, laying a subtle hay strewn groundwork for lurching organ melodies and airy field samples. If you are familiar with Tuma, these types of descriptors are pretty standard. Tuma has pretty much mastered the art of phantasmically gorgeous folk. However, this time around, in addition to ghostly gorgeous, is the frenzied spooky. Dandelion is intermingled with a couple heavy slabs of tin rumbling drone to mix things up and add an extra layer of crystal jingling depth to his already hyper layered formula. It is, at turns, a bit darker, but no less evocative, and amidst this low rumbling hums, the flecks of carefree nostalgia float even higher. It’s a beautifully nuanced give and take. Seriously wonderful stuff, as always, from this perennial FG favourite.

-Thistle

Scott Tuma on MySpace

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