Orchard of Comradery- The Company

Written by Matthew Johnson

ARTIST: Orchard of Comradery
ALBUM: The Company
LABEL: Willowdale Recordings
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 10-27-07

Given his recent stint playing keyboards for darkwave legends Attrition, you'd expect Orchard of Comradery's Edward C. Davidson to be a real whiz at electronic music. You'd be right, but Davidson doesn't really show off his programming chops until near the end of his latest CD, with the charming synthpop number "Blindness Stays" and the dark but catchy "Forever Gone," with its retro bass line and bouncing bells straight out of Siouxsie and The Banshees' "Cities in Dust." True, you could make the Attrition comparison with the brooding analog electronics and quavering violin of "Sunken," but that's only a fraction of what Orchard of Comradery is all about. Sure, there are brooding electronic moments, but most of Davidson's music is an unlikely mix of everything from folk and punk to jazz and funk, often within the constraints of a single track. "Back Where I Began" starts off with dreamy psychedelic guitars strummed over an undercurrent of organic electro burbles, then launches into a techno-backed arena rock sing-along, then inexplicably transforms again into hip-shaking funk. The intriguingly titled "Let Birthdays Burn" begins as mostly acoustic rock backed by a lovely warm bass guitar and somehow ends up as '80s New Wave, complete with analog keyboard and saxophone squeal, and "Right Through Your Tomb" manages to transition from string-laced piano ballad to something that can only be described as a one-man unplugged tribute to George Clinton. While Davidson's experiments in popular music cross-pollination occasionally end in failure, as in the painful falsetto on jazz-infused rocker "We Gotta Do This Tonight," the sheer number of disparate elements he brings into play on this album are nothing short of mind-boggling. While Orchard of Comradery's music might be a little overwhelming to casual listeners, diehard music nuts can't help but be impressed.

Visit Davidson online at www.oocmusic.com.