Fred Smith – Bagarap Empires

“This arrived as another major (pleasant) surprise in the mail. An album so full of haunting, stirring, compassionate, sardonic, and dark beauty that it deserves more time than I can give it now. Most of these songs were written while Fred was living and working in Bougainville, Port Moresby and Honiara from 1999-2001. Covering much of the life and struggle in that part of the world makes it in itself quite rare and interesting. There are too many interesting songs to describe here, but the opening track “Blue Guitar” is one that certainly grabs you at the throat and the heart at the same time, gutsy and to the point, and the title track just makes you sad. “Lucky” Ocean from ABC Radio National described the CD as “…an intelligent, compassionate and sardonic Australian’s response to his experiences as a peace monitor in Bougainville and the Solomon Islands”. There were 19 musicians, too many to mention here, adding on various tracks to the strong musical sound, which could be described as a cross of pop-rock/blues/modern folk and more. The 32 page booklet also supplies interesting background information about the songs, their words and poignant photos. An artist and CD well worth checking out.” Review by Dieter Bajzek.