PAUL TASKER – Cold Weather Music (Yellowroom YLLWRM-008)

Cold Weather MusicPaul Tasker is a Glaswegian multi-instrumentalist and guitar teacher who you may know from the bands Banish Misfortune and Doghouse Roses. Cold Weather Music is his first solo album.

The opener, ‘Husker’s Theme’ begins with solo banjo with layers of instruments building up and receding until the banjo closes the piece. Paul plays most of the music but collaborators include Dejan Lapanja who duets on two tracks; flautist Jo Shaw; Luigi Pasquini on percussion; Thomas Marsden on steel and Weisenborn and cellist Corran McArthur. This is an album that flashes by in a relaxing way with the long first track settling you in. Paul switches to guitar as the main instrument on ‘Gorlitzer’ and the flute takes the lead on the gentler ‘Sky Train’ while ‘Valve Oil’ is a banjo-led shuffle with steel giving it atmosphere.

The variety of styles always maintains the interest from the semi-classical ‘Blooms In The Autumn’ to the bleak country sound of ‘Tundra Plane’ with more banjo and another flute-led composition, ‘Ne’er Day’. ‘In E’, one of the two guitar duets is particularly good.

I don’t suppose that Cold Weather Music is going to send shock-waves through the business but it’s a fine album for a relaxed evening.

Dai Jeffries

Artist’s website: https://paultasker.bandcamp.com/releases

‘Tundra Plane’ – live and solo:


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