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16 Horsepower return with wide-ranging LP 7 August 2002
34 year old, Colorado born traditionalist and seeker David Eugene Edwards—raised by his preacher grandfather and married at 17—has followed his muse to both US coasts; to Boston in the mid ’80s with his band Bloodflower, to Los Angeles a few years later with The Denver Gentlemen. In LA, Edwards found himself building movie sets for producer Roger Corman—who, in that era, was putting out a movie a month. A chance meeting on the job with members of LA band Passion Fodder—flautist & jazz drummer Jean-Yves Tola and bassist Pascal Humbert (both from France)—led to the tentative founding of 16 Horsepower and, soon after, a move back to Denver. Originally christened just 'Horsepower,' Edwards prefixed the name with '16' as a way to make it clear that he intended no reference to Heroin. On the new LP they spell it all out: Sixteen Horsepower. Humbert remained in LA for a few years as Edwards and Tola worked with Keven Soll on bass, an old friend of Edwards. Humbert re-joined the band in time for their debut LP in 1996. Fast forward to January, 2002: 16 Horsepower enter Denver’s Absinthe studio after two years of touring and solo work (Edwards released the debut from his Woven Hand project this March) for the followup to their critically acclaimed Secret South LP. For their new album, Folklore, the band had found a new US home with NYC’s Jetset Records, having previously worked with A&M, Razor & Tie, and Checkered Past. For the UK & Europe they stuck with Glitterhouse. Released yesterday Stateside and a month ago in the UK, the new 37-minute set follows 16 Horsepower’s pattern of mixing originals with covers (they’ve previously recorded songs by Bob Dylan, Gun Club, Creedence Clearwater Rivival, and Joy Division, among others). Folklore combines four originals with the Carter Family’s Single Girl, Hank William’s Alone And Forsaken, and four traditional songs. Compared to much of their back catalog, Folklore sees Edwards hanging back just a bit in his impassioned vocal delivery. The change has the ironic effect of boosting the band’s emotional power, perhaps in leaving something for the imagination. Musically, Folklore is stunningly diverse, from the perky, old-timey Single Girl; to the avante-garde/trip-hop ballad Beyond The Pale; to the jazzy, Violet Indiana-like Blessed Persistence. Throughout, the band have outdone themselves with extraordinarily tasteful and expansive arrangements on this self-produced disc. Guitarist Steve Taylor, with the band since 1998 and who contributed a lot to the record, has since left to spend more time with his family and goes uncredited on the release. With less emotional pushiness than in the past, and untethered to any particular style, Folklore becomes the 16 Horsepower record I’ve always wanted. Four bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. | 16HP US site | | 16HP Europe site | | CD from Amazon US | | top of page | |
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