David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights - David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights (1996)

It wasn't really a new band Kilgour was working with, given that longtime bass player/engineer Noel Ward again handled those duties with aplomb. But with Robert Key on drums and a variety of guests stepping in here and there -- including the peerless Barbara Manning with a vocal turn on the trance-y, motorik-touched jam Locked in Blue -- Kilgour once again demonstrated why in his entrancing, wonderful way he's such an enjoyable listen. As a whole the album blends the more open warmth in arrangements and feel from Here Come the Cars with the cleaner, crisper edge of Sugar Mouth, though with a definite bias toward the earlier album. The hints of drone and Velvets/Krautrock pace already alluded to crop up again, and very wonderfully at that, from the gentler flow of "Seemingly Stranded" and the softly swooning, trippy My One to the more cutting, edgy guitar bite of Waveboarder and Maybe. Kilgour's singing is much more straightforward in comparison to Here Come the Cars, while there's a rougher, darker edge in a number of the songs that adds further variety and depth. Chop Me in 1/2, with Kilgour's guitar taking the lead in intense but not overwhelming instrumental breaks, is a good example, especially how they set the contrast to calmer but no-less-compelling sections, his wordless crooning leading the way. The psychedelic swirl and groove of Round the Bend and the mostly acoustic Hey You are two of many other instantly apparent reasons why Kilgour's winning streak looks to be in no sign of dying out. - 4/5 Stars - All Music Guide

ITEM DETAILS

Artist: David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights
Title: David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights
Year: 1996
Cat #: FN397

Track List:

1. Round The Bend
2. Off My Mind
3. Chop Me In 1/2
4. Locked In Blue
5. Brown Man
6. Seemingly Stranded
7. Waveboarder
8. My One
9. Hey You
10. Maybe
11. Diggin For Gold
12. Tumbalin