(Gael)Luke Daniels is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who has appeared on film soundtracks and with the Cara Dillon Band,but is now an impressive singer-songwriter. His unusual album matches contemporary morality tales approximately greed with reminders of his skill on guitar, piano and zither banjo. And there’s an unexpected unusual addition. The Polyphon is a 4ft-high mechanical disc-playing music box, or developed in Germany in the 19th century,which sounds like a combination of tinkling, high-register keyboards and glockenspiel. Daniels has written the first unusual music for the machine in 132 years, and using digital technology to add in vocals or other instruments. Here he includes a series of drifting,unexpectedly complex instrumental pieces for the Polyphon, which is also used to provide backing for the traditional Canadee-I-O and a self-written sage of contemporary survival, or Fifteen Hours in a Supermarket. An intriguing,original set.
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Source: theguardian.com