Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood - Black Pudding (10/07/2013)
Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood’s recent collaboration, Black Pudding, has brought two of the most respected Blues and Western performers together in a gritty and down right exceptional album. The album isn’t built from radio-ready tracks with catchy riffs and memorable hooks. Instead it is built on undeniable raw talent and a passion for music that can be heard from the musical backlog of both artists.
The title track, an acoustic instrumental piece, sits comfortably outside any standard genre structures with western undertones edged out with blues notes and a flamenco spice. It is a rather disjointed track which builds on dissonant chords to create a sense of discord that twists its way throughout the later tracks.
Both vocally and lyrically, War Memorial is an exceptional track on the album and across Lanegan’s discography, with his venturing outside more traditional blues tones and imagery. Instead of world weary views stringed together with heavy biblical imagery and Lanegan’s signature whisky soaked vocals, War Memorial creates the story of a fallen solider with Lanegan’s vocals sitting much higher in his vocal range and considerably softer than usual. The song captures an incredible sense of mourning with a solitary wind instrument creating a haunting atmosphere to match the lyrics, leaving us with an incredibly moving piece.
The funk driven Cold Molly stands out on the album, with its groovy bass lines and synth notes clearly a new direction from the rest of the album. Despite being well out of his blues and western comfort zone, Lanegan sounds right at home in this track and his vocals certainly top the song off into an almost sexed-up and just a touch dirty feel.
Manchester Special brings the album full circle, with an instrumental closing track that mirrors the opening. The song highlights Garwood’s outstanding musical talent with the entire piece featuring only Garwood’s solitary guitar. And without the strength of Lanegan’s vocals dominating the forefront of the song, we are able to properly acknowledge the brilliant instrumental work from across the whole album.
For those who have listen to both Lanegan and Garwood’s previous works, you will feel right at home in this clever mix of both of their musical workings. However, newer listeners may find the unique genre mix difficult to get into on the first couple of listeners. All I can say is the effort to really understand the music is well and truly worth it.
Bethany Williams
The title track, an acoustic instrumental piece, sits comfortably outside any standard genre structures with western undertones edged out with blues notes and a flamenco spice. It is a rather disjointed track which builds on dissonant chords to create a sense of discord that twists its way throughout the later tracks.
Both vocally and lyrically, War Memorial is an exceptional track on the album and across Lanegan’s discography, with his venturing outside more traditional blues tones and imagery. Instead of world weary views stringed together with heavy biblical imagery and Lanegan’s signature whisky soaked vocals, War Memorial creates the story of a fallen solider with Lanegan’s vocals sitting much higher in his vocal range and considerably softer than usual. The song captures an incredible sense of mourning with a solitary wind instrument creating a haunting atmosphere to match the lyrics, leaving us with an incredibly moving piece.
The funk driven Cold Molly stands out on the album, with its groovy bass lines and synth notes clearly a new direction from the rest of the album. Despite being well out of his blues and western comfort zone, Lanegan sounds right at home in this track and his vocals certainly top the song off into an almost sexed-up and just a touch dirty feel.
Manchester Special brings the album full circle, with an instrumental closing track that mirrors the opening. The song highlights Garwood’s outstanding musical talent with the entire piece featuring only Garwood’s solitary guitar. And without the strength of Lanegan’s vocals dominating the forefront of the song, we are able to properly acknowledge the brilliant instrumental work from across the whole album.
For those who have listen to both Lanegan and Garwood’s previous works, you will feel right at home in this clever mix of both of their musical workings. However, newer listeners may find the unique genre mix difficult to get into on the first couple of listeners. All I can say is the effort to really understand the music is well and truly worth it.
Bethany Williams