Burning Bridges

by Aaron Worley

Every time I talk to somebody about world music, they immediately assume I'm talking about reggae. Now, there's nothing wrong with reggae or hitting the upbeat hard in general, but there's also some other cool stuff out there. The best CD to come our way here at Lies in 1996 from the world beat section is the Feast of Fools release by Burning Bridges. Just by using world beat as a classification doesn't really do justice to the eclectic style and sound this group puts out. Each member of the sextet has their own influences, and the blend makes for a soothing, fluid album that constantly changes rhythm and beats to keep the listener interested for an hour plus of music. The stylistic choices have a wide range including African, Arabian, Caribbean, Celtic, Western, and even a little blues.
Of course, if you put together a unique interesting sound, it usually means you don't get any support from record companies. Instead of folding up shop, Burning Bridges started up its own label called Accretions. In the beginning, it was a one band label, but this still meant they had creative control over their music. Although the band has been around in some form since 1985, the musical cohesiveness didn't materialize until the early 90's, and the success of Feast of Fools has allowed them to look at other artists. Recently, the label started signing other acts from their home of San Diego.
Barefoot Hockey Goalie (a band with Zappa and hockey tendencies), Marcelo Radulovich (a guy that drifts between funk and ambient), and Go Van Go (a group that plays the mystery jazz) have all signed up on the Accretions label. These signings show that Burning Bridges can not only play, but they're not bad judges of other people's music either.
Currently, they are working in and around San Diego, although the possibility of touring more extensively has not been ruled out. The CD has been picked up for national distribution, so if your favorite music outlet doesn't currently carry it, they can probably get it. The following of this band is small but growing, and they even got put on a sampler at the CMJ convention in New York.
Feast of Fools has been the biggest success for the band, and college radio stations across the country have jumped on the same bandwagon we here at the magazine have been riding--nestled quite nicely on the bumper. As far as the lyrics go, the band chooses mostly topics dealing with nature (both landscape and human). More than anything else, the words fuse well with the rest of the rhythms. The music obviously won't appeal to everyone, but if you crave the reggae, Latin, Mid-eastern, African, or general world music sounds, this CD should find a good home in your collection and add a lot more flavor.

If you're not finding Feast of Fools near where you are, you can write Accretions at P.O. Box 81973 San Diego, CA, 92138. They'll be glad to hook you up with a catalogue of their bands.

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