|
Beethoven Music
Forceful, dramatic power and dreamy introspection add to the impact of Beethoven's music.
|
|
Brett Garsed
(14 Jan 03)
Discography and a review
With John Farnham:
"Whispering Jack" 1986
"Age Of Reason" 1988
"Chain Reaction" 1990
"Full House" 1991
"Romeos Heart" 1996
With Nelson:
"After The Rain" 1990
"Because They Can" 1995
"Imaginator" 1997
With Garsed / Helmerich:
"Quid Pro Quo" 1992
"Exempt" 1994
"Under The Lash Of Gravity" 1999
"Uncle Moe's Space Ranch" 2001
( Garsed / Helmerich / Chambers / Willis / Kinsey )
With Others:
Garsed / Lane / Gambale "Centrifugal FUnk" 1991
Bobby Rock "Out Of Body" 1996
Jenna Music- dto. 1998
Derek Sherinian "Planet X" 1999
Mojo ( Brett Garsed, Kofi Baker, Ricc Fierabricci )- "Tapestry" 2002
Solo:
"Big Sky" 2003
Soundfiles:
From John Farnham's "Whispering Jack":
"You're the voice" outro solo - CLICK HERE
From "Centrifugal Funk":
Solo of "So What" - CLICK HERE
Guitar-solo, live on tour with Nelson:
Brett displaying his trademark hybrid-picking technique: CLICK HERE
From the Garsed / Helmerich-album "Exempt"
Brett's solo in "Loch Rannoch" - CLICK HERE
From the Garsed / Helmerich-album "Under The Lash Of Gravity"
"Bad Luck, Go Away" - CLICK HERE
Website:
www.brettgarsed.com- The official Website of Brett. Even more soundfiles can be found here, including the demos he sent to Varney way back in the 80s
www.johnfarnham.com.au
"Big Sky" Review
Let me say a few things first:
In late 2001, Brett offered some "demos" for free download at MP3.com. I certainly downloaded them and listened to those songs a whole lot throughout the year 2002... beautiful, relaxed, atmospheric instrumentals, with some mind-boggling guitar playing.
When Brett informed me that he has a new album coming up, and sent me an advance copy, I was wondering (shall I say hoping?) that some of those tracks I heard from the collection of demos would be featured on the album. When the CD was in the mail and I read the tracklist, I was like "Yes!", cuz the album does feature re-recorded versions of those songs, i.e. "Drowning", "Breathe", "Friend Or Foe".
So I put in the CD and it hasn't left my player yet. Not because I wanna listen to it several times so I can write a really fair review... nope, it's just that this album is one of the most beautiful instrumental albums I have EVER heard. And I am not exaggerating.
The demos were a good preview of this album. "Big Sky" has 10 tracks (most of them clocking in at above 5 minutes, 2 tracks are more than eight minutes long). Most of the tracks are rather atmospheric, slow tracks, full of beautiful melodies.
The best definition IMHO would be "movie theatre for the head". If a tune can project images and scenes into your mind, i.e. pictures of vast landscapes or other scenery, I really enjoy it. And pretty much all of the songs on "Big Sky" do exactly that.
I listened to the album with headphones on, eyes closed, really zoning out. The opener is the rather dramatic "Undoing", with some wonderful melodies. The second tune, "Trinity", is a groove-based song, which soon turns into a dark piece, based on some cool low bass-notes. Next, the guitar enters, playing some beautiful little themes, reminding me of the rather mysterious tunes by Joe Satriani.
"Brothers" again is a rather dark, moody tune, with some nice clean guitar-sounds and it's a perfect tune to dream away a bit. The song features a very nice fretless bass-solo by bassist Ric Fierabracci.
By the way, all drums were played by Toss Panos, a young, very talented player who used to tour with Steve Vai a while ago.
"Drowning", the next track, is a song I heard as a demo, and it grew even more... it's a waltz-like dreamy ballad with some wonderful melodies played with a slide (Brett really is a good slide-player too, and we're not even talking about his mind-boggling legato-playing, which is evident on many of these songs).
"Fu'd Fight" is a mid-tempo song with a pumping bass, it sounds a bit blues-inspired to me, and is a bit reminiscent of the self-titled, blues-inspired Joe Satriani album from `95.
"Breathe" is another song I had heard as a demo. It features some very nice guitar-layers and sustain notes-overdubs, and the melody was stuck in my head for days. This song goes from a rather relaxed to a rather dramatic sound and back, very nice songwriting here!
"Got The Horn" starts off as a rock-song with some cool Leslie-sounds and then merges into a really grooving song with some over-the-top-playing by Brett, where he does not only show his chops, but also his ability to phrase great lines.
As I said before, the general sound of the CD is rather vast, slow, relaxed, atmospheric. And the songs really make me think of vast landscapes, stuff like that, like i.e. the excellent "The Myth" and the 8 1/2 minute title-track.
I had high expectations regarding this album, and I definitely was not disappointed. It is not your regular kinda "lemme show you my chops"-guitar album. Instead, you get a collection of beautiful tunes, which you'll enjoy listening to a lot.
And you should give this CD a few spins, because some of the details and atmospheres featured will come to your attention after a listening sessions (multi-layered is the keyword!).
To sum it up, this is a very beautiful, dreamy album by one of the best-kept secrets of the guitar scene. And again Brett proves that he's not only an amazing guitar player, but also he shows another facet of his songwriting-talent... not much complex-fusion stuff here, but some wonderful tunes which will take you to places far away... Guitar-album of the year for me!
|
|
|
The Interview, Part 1 >> |
|
|
|
|
