Howie B

Folk, the album on which Howie B doesn't go for the electro gusto and channels his energy into outward bound gear, seeking the organic, the international, the mysterious, and the mental is a more curious affair than anything he's issued previously. Essentially, it is a slew of disparate stories from a musical burn case who keeps one of his personalities focused firmly on the mixing deck and the other fluidly appearing and disappearing in space -- outer and inner. Folk is still very much a human record, maybe even more so than Music for Babies or Turn the Dark Off, in that it is far more intimate. Fans of the cozy Howie B will dig the hell out of "Making Love on Your Side," the album's opening track, with it's glistening, noir-ish gypsy blues ambience, or the over-the-edge desperate love song with Robbie Robertson on "All This Means to Me." Here, as Roberston makes an actual attempt to sing his part, Howie goes for a greasy little trip-hop groove that is more smoky and seductive than in your face. But they're strange, too; there's a high-tech kind of eeriness at the heart of the mix that undoes itself and makes the protagonist come off as obsessive -- which he is. Proving that the Middle Eastern voices and the borrowed international themes are part of a bigger picture, B proves that he sees his role more as a guiding collaborator than as a solo artist. The Robertson track is one example, but it's stellar opposite is even more intriguing, a cover of David Essex's "Rock On" as a duet between ex-Virgin Prune Gavin Friday and new voice on the block Karmen Wiyjnberg. Wiyjnberg also makes an appearance on the dark, silvery funk of "Musical Mayday." This is a confusing little record to be sure, with its threads sticking out all over by the end, but it's also compelling enough to make you listen a dozen times just to see if you can nail it down. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide