Newman, Harris
Decorated
Of the players involved in the recent resurgence of fingerstyle guitar, Harris Newman has established himself as a primary envoy on the modern day steel-stringer shortlist. As with the case of his brothers-in-arms Jack Rose, Glenn Jones and Steffen Basho-Junghans, each of whom borrow from the past traditions of mavericks Fahey, Basho et al but have re-invented the sound and style with fresh perspectives, Newman distinguishes his music even further with a very idiosyncratic sound. A fixture in the Montreal scene for years, Newman cut his teeth early on by playing bass in Constellation recording artists Sackville. Currently he is of the duo Triple Burner with cohort Bruce Cawdron (Godspeed You! Black Emperor), and can be found on records by Montreal bands Hrsta and Esmerine. Newman also happens to be the mastering agent du jour for the Montreal scene, bringing sparkle to recordings as diverse as Wolf Parade, A Silver Mt Zion, Fly Pan Am and Carla Bozulich. Its speculation to claim that the post-modern rock sound which has come to define the Montreal scene guides Newmans approach to the acoustic guitar, but it is a resolute certainty that Newman is charting terrain that sounds like few others. Following up the critically acclaimed Accidents With Nature And Each Other (Strange Attractors, 2005), Newman unveils his third album Decorated, yet another beautiful, forward-thinking take on the steel-string sound. Extracting elements of folk and blues and exposing it bare, Harris Newman dresses up his music in cinematic, "post-rock" attire. Decorated is accessible solo guitar music for the experimentally minded, a meditative electro-acoustic melding of Leo Kottke and Jim ORourke, illustrating why Newmans own take on the tradition sets him apart from the pack.