Gareth Dickson - The Dance

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5...according to our Phil on Wed 30 Nov, 2011.

We've had a few CDs by this chap over the years and with each one that arrives I get more intrigued by his work. It seems others are too as his next album is out on 12K some time next year. The Dance is a collection of work recorded in 2005-2006 and released on his own label Sleeping Man Records. In case you're not familiar with his work Gareth plays a guitar and makes an astonishing noise with it. It's beautiful, harmonic, resonant music which is a delight from start to end. Astonishingly there are no overdubs on this release so what you hear is what was played which is refreshing to hear of in this day and age of folks tinkering with everything electronically to get the best sound. When something sounds as good as this then why bother? He's an astonishing guitarist and a talented writer as the songs here are genius. The sound is a sparse one with just guitar but you can hear the creaks of his chair he's sat on and the clicks of the fretboard. Not much else going on aside from his ability to create an astonishing musical atmosphere for you to absorb yourself into. You really should check this guy out as he deserves to be way better known that he is.

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Gareth Dickson’s 2009 release ‘Collected Recordings’ showed the world that beautiful acoustic/ambient music could be made with simply an acoustic guitar, a spot of vocals and just the right amount of reverb. Dickson rather successfully created an album that at times resembled something that one might expect to hear from the likes of Brian Eno and at other times managed to pull off the vulnerability of Nick Drake’s vocal style. It was a luscious album that progressed through its tracks with such a startling beauty. It’s an album of raw, barely touched (in the studio, I mean) soulful folk music…

Well, Gareth is back with his new release ‘The Dance’ planned for a release on his own label Sleeping Man Records. And with this news fans of his previous work should rejoice right? Well, not quite.. It’s a little different.

Dickson decided to strip everything away for ‘The Dance’ and remove anything that felt unnecessary. Acoustic guitar and a reverberation time that must surely challenge that of the grand canyon is all you will hear in its 35 minute run time. Although on paper this sounds sparse, it is in fact the limitations that have bred interesting results for this release. Wear a pair of headphones and you’ll be transported to a gloomy chapel where Dickson plays mere meters in front of you. This setting truly reveals the magic of this album. The fingerpicks, stutters within the reverb, the clicks of the fretboard, the creaks of his chair; this simple human interaction truly exists to make the album unique. Listen to ‘Little Miller’ for the best example of this.

So although ‘The Dance’ still shares the same rawness that was present in ‘Collected Recordings’ its a completely different beast, even to the extent that if you listen to the two side by side you’d be forgiven for thinking they were different artists.

Dickson boasts that as with his previous release there is no looping or overdubs in ‘The Dance’ and whilst this is no questionable matter once you’ve heard it, it is a breath of fresh air as it takes a different viewpoint from the current music scene where records are focused around the processing, methods and complex techniques. Within the tracks of ‘The Dance’, listener’s are subject to somewhat of a live recording that truly lives and breathes.

from Fluid Radio review by Simon James French

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