Folklore

Sixteen Horsepower

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 6, 2002)
• Original Release Date: August 6, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jet Set Records
• ASIN: B00006BTDW
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #116,086 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Whistling in the wind like a ghost in the desert, 16 Horsepower's Folklore is a grave, brooding piece of dark theater. Outside of occasional relief in the form of a loose French waltz finale and the natural rockabilly songwriting touch of David Eugene Edwards, the music here is akin to a bleak ride to a dusty crossroads where the devil awaits. Reminiscent of the rustic cacophony that Grant Lee Buffalo brought to Mighty Joe Moon, or Nick Cave's desolate wasteland elegies, Folklore leaves behind the last of the band's alt-country tics. The flat, yearning tones of Edwards's singing combines with a spare banjo on tracks like "Alone and Forsaken" before "Single Girl" picks up the tempo with a bouncy bass line and a folksy chorus. But the mood is short-lived, as "Sinnerman" and the bleak, brilliant "Horse Head Fiddle" reestablish the album's desolate, hypnotic trance. Folklore's haunted melodies and mythic inspirations have a frightening intensity that turns this short set (just over 37 minutes) into an unforgettable experience. --Matthew Cooke

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ain't no sunshine, August 6, 2002

By	Daniel S. Russell "syzygy121" (Blacksburg, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the wake of rumors of their imminent demise, the members of Sixteen Horsepower have produced what is perhaps their most compelling work to date. But don't buy this disc expecting to hear a progressive new sound from these gothabilly songsters. Rather join them for an often-harrowing trip across Appalachia and Europe visiting backwoods cabins and barren countrysides searching out their musical and cultural roots.

David Eugene Edwards, Pascal Humbert and Jean Yves Tola have crafted a complex and powerful homage of sorts to their progenitors. We witness how such musical influences as Hank Williams, The Carter Family and a fistfull of traditional folksongs have taken root in their fertile psyches and then blossomed into these ten songs, both beautiful and distressing to behold.

Taking a step back from the highly polished sound of their last group effort, "Secret South," "Folklore" is in a way their least accessible work to date, but inaccessibility has never frightened their truest fans. The songs with few exceptions master the brooding drone that has marked this band a unique and precious find among so many unremarkable efforts.

These songs are dark, among their darkest. A friend of mine once described 16hp's work (disparagingly I fear) as "music to contemplate a coffin by." At points during "Folklore" he might have not been too far off the mark. "Horse Head Fiddle" is so mist-shrouded and ethereal that one can hear the spirits of Tom Waits, Ry Cooder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan hovering in the carefully layered rhythms and drones. But we are here to witness influences and to welcome old friends.

This highly textured musicscape is at once triumphant and windswept. Far from the charming bluegrass-cum-rockabilly numbers of their past, the overall effect on "Folklore" is unsettling and unfamiliar. As in the past I found myself straining to distinguish the curious sound of a particular instrument, saying "What is that?" The sparse instrumentation, yet full of surprises and delights, lends a mood of general creepiness.

The opening lament, "Hutterite Mile," prepares us for a lonely journey through dark nights of introspection, struggle and regret. The driven "Sinnerman" is one of the clearest connections with their own history-an apocalyptic, darkly spiritual invocation.

Yet, the most memorable moments come in "Outlaw Song." David gives what might be his most remarkable vocal performance to date. He even seems to whinny at a crucial moment of this narrative piece, a traditional Hungarian folksong about a mystical horse and his death-defying rider. Again the instrumentation, while stark, is gripping and deeply affective.

I have a more complete review on my homepage. Just follow the links.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I like it more every time I hear it., August 29, 2002

By	FYI - See all my reviews

When I first got this one, I hardly listened to it at all. (Partly because I was still listening to "Alice" and "Blood Money" from Tom Waits.)

But as 16HP fans know, their albums just need a few listens and maybe, late one night, just the right kind of mood... and, WHAM! there it is. The album hits you with its full force. Another incredible piece of work - I really think each album has been even better than the last with no exceptions.

I am not really sold on "Single Girl", but otherwise I have enjoyed all of the songs - especially "Outlaw Song", "Sinnerman", "Hutterite Mile", "Alone and Forsaken"... OK, OK, all the rest of them too! An incredible album. Beautiful and gorgeous. What can I say?

It is dark, yes, and brooding, and haunting. I have had a couple of scary moments walking alone through rainy, windy streets listening to "Horse Head Fiddle."

The songs are so perfectly, delicately constructed; his voice perfectly suited to the material. I can't recommend it enough.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Head low and smoking, August 20, 2002

By	andrew dingledy (salem, ma United States) - See all my reviews

I, like many it seems, was a little reserved when I first gave Folklore a listen. But it quickly grew on me the more I listened. It almost feels like a storytelling session. Edwards mixes traditional with new so well that it's impossible to decipher the two. He has the keen ability to make Hank Williams the most depressing artist of our time, while at the same time put a kick in my feet with a nice traditional French round. Hutterite Mile starts the album of nicely. Play it real loud in your car while you drive late at night down a deserted farm road and it's a spinetingling feeling. Edwards uses his unique voice to the best of his abilities here, and the results are yet again amazing and wholly reinventive.