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Elly Roberts reviews

Paul Duncan: Above The Trees

Distributed by
Hometapes

May 2007

Rating: 10/10

Knocked together quick sharp (written in three months and recorded in a week), Paul Duncan's Above The Trees is an absolute gem.

Relocated to Brooklyn from Texas, Duncan fuses orcherstral-like hints with tender acoustic outings and large dolops of pedal steel making for a smooth, creamy lightness that seems to pull you in from the off with gorgeously melodic opener Red Eagle.

For The Fire, we get hints of Nick Drake, but the quicksilver pedal steel (Ken Champion) tells us it’s not going to too melancholic. The track opens up with lashings of strings, with pedal steel reprised almost to the end. The ghosting drum shuffles provide a brilliant back drop for Duncan’s almost hushed singing. Ah, return of the, yes you guessed it, pedal steel, for the twanging jangly guitars on the more paced-up The Country Witch, with wonderful syncopated drumming by Joe Stickney and string combinations by Fred Longberg-Horn and Nate Swanson, cello and violin respectively. Parasail, which seems totally out of sync with the previous tracks. Back on the good foot, thankfully, a gentle opening to High In The Morning eventually burst into life with masses of strings – actually it’s only viola and cello – but sounds like a full blown orchestra, which stradle some impressive ‘ rockish’ guitar solos by David Daniell. Above The Trees is a stunning and ghostly instrumental using only two instruments – pedal steel and B3 keyboard.

Back on more mellow territory, that man Champion playing, well you know by now, glides his mercurial stylings in an almost Hawaiian hue, with Duncan’s drifting vocals swirling in harmony. The Pendulum has the creamiest sound of all, with multiple textures eventually building up as the song just seems to sail away in the mist above the trees, juxtaposed by some rather cryptic lyrics. Nevertheless it works perfectly.

A more simplistic opening on Memory Curves, gradually builds to a bit of a blast for the crescendo, complete with edgy trumpet solos by Josh Berman. It leaves us in doubt that Duncan has created a niche all of his own: no-one can touch him right now.

The glossy gatefold packaging is pretty darned impressive too.

Weblink: home-tapes.com

The full list of tracks included are :

1. Red Eagle 2. The Fire 3. The Lake Pt.2 4. Country Witch 5. Parasail 6. High In The Morning 7. Above The Trees 8. The Lake Pt.1 9. The Pendulum 10. Memory Curves

Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

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