Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Another Electric Mourning Blues review!

Rave Magazine, Brisbane, Issue 953, April 2010.


"Brisbane-based duo The Scrapes are Adam Cadell and
Ryan Potter, the former on violin and the latter on guitar.
Electric Mourning Blues is their entirely instrumental debut
and it’s got a lot going for it. Comparisons with Dirty
Three are impossible to avoid and from aesthetics to
structure, they have clearly been very infl uential on The
Scrapes. Cadell’s violin is the driving force of the music and
his ability to tap into the instrument’s emotional range is
impressive. The use of guitar is where The Scrapes most
signifi cantly diverge from Dirty Three. It wraps and moves
around the violin, intent on carving its mark into each track
as opposed to serving a backbone role. The use of feedback
and noise is very eff ective, giving the record a rather
sinister undertone, most especially in Antarctic Beach and
Drivetime. Percussion is rarely heard, making the structure
of some tracks a little harder to discern, but it also allows
them to fl ow more freely. It’s very clear that both men are
talented musicians. Electric Mourning Blues is often beautiful,
sometimes dissonant, but always evocative."
MICHAEL PINCOTT

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