Whatever
entity he decides to go with at any particular point in his music,
David Bridie remains one of the true individualists and innovators
of Australian music. Blessed with both a vocal and piano sound you
can pick as his immediately he's primarily a collaborator, always
surrounding himself with and inviting the contribution of others.
That's what's made his path in music so interesting to follow, forever
shifting ground, but never too dramatically not to take us with
him, and always with great integrity and warmth at the heart of
it. We haven't heard My Friend The Chocolate Cake on record for
six years. Probably even David thought that name was behind him,
put to respectful rest like Not Drowning Waving while both stood
for something fine and meaningful. In the beginning MFTCC was a
joyous respite from the dense, brooding NDW. David's recent solo
album 'Freedom of Choice' took the NDW adventure another dimension,
clearly leaving in its wake fertile ground for Chocolate Cake to
explore with its trademark organic sounds, dominated by Helen Mountford's
cello. The lines between David Bridie's musical output are wonderfully
blurred, not schizophrenic, but parts of a well-defined whole viewed
from different directions. Chocolate Cake has grown over the journey
if its four albums, making room for David's State Of The Nation
songs - this time 'I Guess It Don't Get Much Better Than This' ("This
little country it's little again") - and David's on-going commitment
to the culture and politics of Papua New Guinea - 'Kelly Kwalik
Country'. The pop sense Not Drowning Waving unearthed with the 'Circus'
album takes flight again in 'Leave' and 'I Like It Like This'. But
of course MFTCC isn't a one man band. It works because its instrumentation
is such rich territory for David Bridie's soulfulness, and because
he is such a strong foil for the rest of the band to play with.
Instrumentals like 'Weep', The Kilana Stringband Song' and 'The
Boat Song' positively glow in their time in the spotlight. (Blunt/EMI)
Whatever
entity he decides to go with at any particular point in his music,
David Bridie remains one of the true individualists and innovators
of Australian music. Blessed with both a vocal and piano sound you
can pick as his immediately he's primarily a collaborator, always
surrounding himself with and inviting the contribution of others.
That's what's made his path in music so interesting to follow, forever
shifting ground, but never too dramatically not to take us with
him, and always with great integrity and warmth at the heart of
it. We haven't heard My Friend The Chocolate Cake on record for
six years. Probably even David thought that name was behind him,
put to respectful rest like Not Drowning Waving while both stood
for something fine and meaningful. In the beginning MFTCC was a
joyous respite from the dense, brooding NDW. David's recent solo
album 'Freedom of Choice' took the NDW adventure another dimension,
clearly leaving in its wake fertile ground for Chocolate Cake to
explore with its trademark organic sounds, dominated by Helen Mountford's
cello. The lines between David Bridie's musical output are wonderfully
blurred, not schizophrenic, but parts of a well-defined whole viewed
from different directions. Chocolate Cake has grown over the journey
if its four albums, making room for David's State Of The Nation
songs - this time 'I Guess It Don't Get Much Better Than This' ("This
little country it's little again") - and David's on-going commitment
to the culture and politics of Papua New Guinea - 'Kelly Kwalik
Country'. The pop sense Not Drowning Waving unearthed with the 'Circus'
album takes flight again in 'Leave' and 'I Like It Like This'. But
of course MFTCC isn't a one man band. It works because its instrumentation
is such rich territory for David Bridie's soulfulness, and because
he is such a strong foil for the rest of the band to play with.
Instrumentals like 'Weep', The Kilana Stringband Song' and 'The
Boat Song' positively glow in their time in the spotlight. (Blunt/EMI)