Nearly a month’s past since the contemporary folk multi-instrumentalist Joshua Burnside shared his latest album with the world: ‘Teeth of Time’. I have always found it hard to explain Burnside’s music in a way that appropriately indicates his creative excellence, and this album has made it even more difficult.
Juxtaposing shades of light and dark, joy and melancholy, closeness and distance, ‘Teeth of Time’ is everything I had hoped it would be and more. Burnside’s approach to sampling is once again not only inventive but emotive. While helping to convey – and at times obscure – the narrative of the songs through their content and context, the samples in this album serve as integral components of the music. Along with his imaginative use of mixing and digital manipulation of acoustic sounds, the interaction between samples and instruments in tracks like ‘Teeth of Time / Mountain’ define the dynamic character of the song. If this were an essay, you’d be reading about the potential impacts (from both sides of the argument) of “musique concrète” on traditional music practices in the modern world. Seeing as its not, I’ll just say that my take on it is a positive one; especially if it’s executed as effectively as it is in this album.
Traditional practices are very much still in play, whether through his balladry in tracks like ‘Ghost of the Bloomfield Road’, referential use of places in ‘Marching Round The Ladies’ (an incredibly infectious tune), or the use of drones in both the fiddles and crunchy chopped up harmonium* of ‘Sycamore Queen’. Reference to place isn’t restricted to the one track, however; it’d make a great (if not obscure) pub quiz question, asking you to name every place mentioned – for our fellow Geordie readers, you’d be glad to know that Newcastle comes up in the first song.
If the allure of location-based trivia isn’t enough to draw you to the album, then Burnside’s compelling voice and lyricism definitely will be. ‘The Good Life’ is a great one to jump into. Its memorable melody, calm vocal tone, and gradual build from a consonant bliss to dissonant chaos perfectly pairs with the mantra-like refrain sung in the persona of someone trying to persuade themselves that they are in fact living “the good life” despite their urges against it. I’ll let you listen to follow the narrative and hear the conclusion for yourself, but the mastery of his first-person balladry is impossible to deny. This whole album displays his musical mastery, encapsulating Burnside’s growth as a musician and human. Whether you’ve been as lucky as I have to see him play, or follow his music online, or whether you’re new to the Burnside story, ‘Teeth of Time’ is going to knock your socks off.
*that’s a guess; I can’t tell what instrument this is and (if you couldn’t tell) I’m not a proper folky. If you know, I’d love to find out.
Waxing Lyrical 