I reviewed Dave Weiner’s solo album On Revolute a couple of years ago and I’m as much of a fan of it now as I was when I first heard it, it’s a great solo electric guitar album. Dave’s latest album takes a different musical direction, ‘A Collection of Short Stories: Vol 1‘ is a solo Acoustic album which not only shows Dave’s incredible versatility as a guitar player but also his ability to construct textured dynamic compositions around simple melodies using various techniques such as tapping, harmonics etc. This album isn’t just an electric guitar player playing a melody over some strummed chords, Dave has amazing fingerstyle technique.
I normally talk about a few tracks when I review an album, highlights that struck a particular chord with me (pun intended), it is difficult to single out tracks as I really enjoy this album as a whole. I like the way “Scent Of A Memory” builds using a rhythmic pedal device to slowly introduce a melody. I also like the fast pace of “The Trillium’s Launch” with it’s bluegrass-esque intro that evolves into a sliding melody and then a strummed chordal melody section. Each track has a different dynamic and “A Sigh Of Bliss” uses tapping and harmonics throughout to create a very percussive yet emotive track. The Acoustic guitar is so great for creating music with a lot of dynamics just listen to the embedded track ‘Torchwood’ below and you will hear how Dave creates a subtle fingerpicked verse section and then a loud and percussive picked and strummed chorus style section.
This album is Vol 1 and I sincerely hope that that this is the first of many Acoustic albums for Dave as he is an incredibly talented and gifted musician.
If you are a fan of modern solo Acoustic guitar players such as Antoine Dufour or Andy McKee I highly recommend checking out this album, if you want a taste of what to expect check out the track Torchwood embedded below:
To buy the album head over to DaveWeiner.com.
