Harald Haugaard
Burning Fields
Pile House Records (www.pilehouserecords.com)

Danish fiddler Haugaard gets all big and anthemic on this release, but ultimately plays it safe. The musicianship is superb, as one has come to expect from Haugaard, and the arrangements are varied enough to keep one from getting restless, but there's no real new ground trodden here. Haugaard apparently didn't read the obituary for stadium rock, as several of the tracks have Zeppelin-sized helpings of screaming electric guitar, courtesy of Krister Jonsson and Sune Hånsbæk. It's all very stirring, if sometimes a bit dated.

The acoustic pieces have a breezy lilt, held aloft by Rasmus Zeeberg and Roger Tallroth's glittering acoustic guitars. "Okseø/Murky No. 14" in particular has a nice swoop and sway to it.

The last five tracks comprise the "Burning Fields Suite" with tempo markings for titles a la classical music. The first, second, and fourth movements, "Allegro," "Vivace," and "Andante," pull out all the Steve Vai/Joe Satriani shred stops. The third, "Lento," is a moody piece with electric guitar on high reverb and lots of softly wailing false harmonics on fiddle. This turns out to be the most interesting part of the suite. It's as if the two musicians are sitting at a dark corner table carrying on a hushed conversation that you feel privileged to be able to eavesdrop on. The final track, "Adagio," is a short, sweet string trio that hints at the Baroque era.

Overall, it's a strong disc, even if the 'Guitar Hero' stuff feels a little bloated at times. - Peggy Latkovich

CD available from cdRoots

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