The Magic Bridge, by Richard Dawson

The Magic Bridge

by Richard Dawson

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Double 180g 12" in Gatefold Sleeve, Bonus CD & Download
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Richard Dawson has been a much-loved musical spectacle in his native Newcastle for many years now, a skewed troubadour who sings and plays guitar with a rare intensity and a very singular style. Beguiled northern audiences have long awaited the arrival of recordings that capture Dawson’s genius, and it has finally arrived with his album The Magic Bridge, a 10-song collection out now on cd (Pink Triangle) and double 12” vinyl (Box Records).

Dawson’s music is a collision of opposites, his hoarsely cracking voice suddenly rising to a magical soar that’s been compared to Tim Buckley, John Martyn and Richard Youngs, while his battered acoustic guitar veers from stumble to sublime in a way that can recall Sir Richard Bishop or Captain Beefheart. Add this to his snaring way with words and Dawson’s got you pinned – stories like the one relayed in Black Dog In the Sky typify his by turns heartbreaking and hilarious self-deprecation and skill in painting a story with both words and guitar.

The listener is drawn in carefully but irresistibly from the instrumental opener Juniper Berries Float Down The Stream, which creeps in falteringly but grows and envelops before you realise it’s happened and you’re gripped. By track 2 and the arrival of his skyward voice (not to mention its beautifully tender conclusion) and Dawson has you under his spell.

Includes unlimited streaming of The Magic Bridge via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

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	1.	Richard Dawson - Juniper Berries Float Down The Stream 05:22
	2.	Richard Dawson - Black Dog In The Sky 05:20
	3.	Wooden Bag 05:25
	4.	The Bamburgh Beast 03:36
	5.	Grandad's Deathbed Hallucinations 07:06
	6.	Cumberland Rag 06:32
	7.	We Picked Apples In A Graveyard Freshly Mowed 06:48
	8.	Newcastle 08:52
	9.	Man Has Been Struck Down By Hands Unseen 09:01
	10.	The Magic Bridge 05:05

about

The Wire - “What makes The Magic Bridge such a remarkable album is that every comparison one might make, however illustrious the precursor, feels both entirely justified by Dawson’s music, yet entirely inadequate as an explanation of it. This elusive freshness is why the album demands to be properly heard, compelling the listener to keep coming back to it.”

Boomkat - "...the aesthetic is leaden with an intimate gravity, expressing a stripped back, ragged, and crackling sort of northern-spirited blues recalling the likes of Jandek or Richard Youngs. It's as eloquent as any finger picker you might like to mention, however, the feeling of 'The Magic Bridge' is somehow freer and perhaps not as cloyingly beautiful as so many solo shows of technical prowess can tend to be."