"A deft synthesis of psychedelia, folk, pop, country and trip hop; pedal steel and banjo mate blithely with samples and audio cut-ups...fresh and ultimately a little dizzying...not unlike several different radio stations broadcasting harmoniously at the same time. This is Sid Griffin's best, most assured, most experimental and most ambitious work." Billboard (USA)
Western Electric is a successful attempt by ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin to break free of the straight jacket of tradition which choke holds so much of what is called alt-country. By embracing the newest technology and expanding their musical palette Sid Griffin, Pat McGarvey, Dave Morgan and Neil Robert Herd have created a new music. Call it "Country & Eastern".
Three years in the making, the album Western Electric breaks new ground by blending cool, shimmering western guitars, electric 12 strings, sound bites, pop/dance rhythms, pedal steel, mandolin and psychedelia. One of the most adventurous rock/Americana releases of the year, both genre-bending and genre-expanding, their debut CD was stunning and the reviews were proof. (Mojo magazine named "Western Electric" as their Americana Album of the Month.)
Western Electric, both the band and the album, is an attempt to do something radically different with existing instruments, modern rhythms and technology, something akin to Portishead making music with The Jayhawks' instruments. Samples woven into the fabric include a gospel radio live broadcast taped in South Carolina from the AM dial and DAT recorded sounds from rural Kentucky Baptist churches. Contemporary rhythms invigorate tracks such as The Power Of Glory whilst a trip hop beat backs Emily In Ginger. Guitars are used more like pastels than primary colours. The pedal steel playing by Neil Robert Herd is non-traditional, sounding more like keyboards or organ; the 12 string guitar doesn't imitate the Byrds and the mandolin sounds more like percussion.
Recorded and mixed in London, various mixes were tried out as part of the experimental ethos. The final album mixes selected were the ones which fit the overall mood of the "Western Electric" album best. And "Western Electric" works both as an adventurous yet coherent soundscape and as a refreshing way out of all the old tired formulas, retaining all the warmth of the great records we know and love. Check it.
The Western Electric album includes a previously unrecorded song written by the late great ex-Byrd Gene Clark called Straight From The Heart. Gene Clark recorded and performed with Sid when Sid was in the Long Ryders.
Special guest is Robyn Hitchcock, with Robyn's voice and guitar lending extra tenderness to the unrecorded Gene Clark song.
Appeared on Gadfly Records in the USA, Munich Records in Benelux and Glitterhouse Records in Germany and central Europe.
Western Electric - Love You Down
Live in Leicester, England, November 2000
Sid Griffin - Emily in Ginger