David Rudder The Gilded Collection 2

Review

Here is a bittersweet journey through the streets of Sarajevo and Soweto, Los Angeles and Port of Spain to a new world order run by the Ministry of Rhythm where each of these 12 tracks has a file. Party is the key word here, whether political or social. 1990, a chilling musical portrait of history repeating itself, has Rudder begging for proof that life is not controlled simply by fate. The track begins with a single sitar and keeps adding instruments to thicken the sense of conflict. Long Time Band looks back at old-time Trinidad Carnivals, with American jazzman Andy Narell playing an old-time tenor pan. Stiff Waist Man is a parody of love and a re-interpretation of Don Quixote: Rudder’s Stiff Waist Man declares war on the woman who jilts him, in order to preserve his inflated sense of honour. Dus’ in Dey Face revisits the old steelband street battles in celebrating an upset victory at 1992’s Panorama, Trinidad and Tobago’s annual steelband competition, when Exodus — from the east— beat the Port of Spain steelbands against very heavy odds. L.A. Burning and Knock Them Down both offer political commentary; Carnival Ooman (Woman) comments wryly on wife abuse. Caribbean Party is flavoured with Jamaican dance hall, with bubbling old-time calypso horns. A new “discofied” version of Dark Secrets, written for the soundtrack of the movie Wild Orchid, is also included. The title track is Rudder’s surrealistic interpretation of Utopia. [Caribbean Beat]