Description
CD REVIEW -by Jane Harding
Being a conservative type, I generally prefer my music to have a hummable tune and audible lyrics.
Conversely, on first listen, Brian Dubb appears to like his music from the soul/funk genre, straight from a computerized audio tricks box, with lots of distortion, weird rhythms and drums, drums, drums.
Once I waded through my initial distaste for this recording, I found that it really is quite interesting.
Brian Dubb is a great lyricist and story teller who has plenty to say, inspired by his travels both within Australia and across the world.
Much of the content was written whilst sailing on the high seas, with tracks such as “Surfing Sailor” and “Karma Winds” reflecting this influence.
He’s also drawn fully on his international resources, receiving assistance for the production of Wunderings from folks in South Africa, Israel, Chile, England as well as in this country.
This album is an eclectic mix for a lad from South Africa whose early dreams of songwriting were inspired by local townships music.
In fact, the more I listened to Wunderings, the more I enjoyed it.
“Down The Line” is a sweetly acoustic track that satisfies even my desire for melody, as is “New Morning”, co-written with Chilean folk/jazz genius Nano Stern.
And I love the black humour of “Shark in the Pool”, an astute piece of human observation as I’ve ever heard!
In short, if you want to get the best from Wunderings, you have to take off your ‘trad’ ears (metaphorically speaking) and slip on something a little more contemporary.
Those who are game to give it a go will be rewarded!
