PETER BRODERICK: Float (Type Recordings)

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Posted on May 8th 2008 01:01 am

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Peter Broderick: Float

PETER BRODERICK
Float
TYPE027
Type Recordings 2008
10 Tracks. 35mins46secs

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, multi-instrumentist Peter Broderick moved to Copenhagen in the second half of last year when Danish folksters extraordinaire Efterklang invited him to join their touring caravan following the release of their excellent Parades. Not one to miss a golden opportunity, Broderick dropped everything and took his quarters in the Danish capital, and has spent the last six months criss-crossing Europe as part of the band as well as alternating opening slots with Danish singer Anna Brønsted, aka Our Broken Garden.

Following Broderick’s debut single, released on Type last year, and a limited edition mini album of solo piano works, Docile, released last November on Swedish imprint Kning Disk, Float collects ten compositions which expands on the delicate pieces of Docile to incorporate voluptuous orchestral swathes and other instrumental textures. While Broderick only studied the violin during his formative years, he actually plays a wide variety of instruments, including piano, guitar, cello, celeste, drums, Theremin and musical saw, which allows him to give his music great depth and rich overtones. Broderick’s music shares with that of Max Richter, Sylvain Chauveau or Jóhann Jóhannsson a taste for melancholic flourishes and added textures, but the particular cinematic aspect of the music on offer here also brings to mind the work of Michael Nyman or, as on the beautiful opening piece A Snowflake, Yann Tiersen.

All the way through, Broderick crafts discreet recurring themes which come in and out of focus and occasionally echo from one piece to another. This gives the album a particular resonance and contributes to the overall mood of the record by linking the complete work in a traditional classical fashion. This process is perhaps best illustrated with the melancholic drapes and delicate piano drizzle of Something Has Changed, which are found again on closing piece A Beginning interpreted in a different form, or as Broderick reuses the elegant motif heard first on A Snowflake given a different sheen on the short and delicate A Simple Reminder.

On Another Glacier, Broderick adds to the soft instrumental brushes and crystal clear melodies found on the rest of the album by applying a gentle vocal layer. Indeed, while, so far, his releases have been pretty much exclusively instrumental, the man regularly performs songs on stage, and, as he hinted in a recent interview with this website, his next album is set to feature more vocal tracks. Here though, the voice appears as little more than a gossamer breeze over the music.

With this debut album, Peter Broderick has produced a truly enduring and beautiful record, full of substance and dramatic moments. Float very much delivers on the promises of Docile and is undoubtedly the first major step in this musician’s very long journey ahead.

4.8/5

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Comments (3)

3 Responses to “PETER BRODERICK: Float (Type Recordings)”

  1. stuarton 23 Nov 2008 at 1:01 am

    Buy this music it is superb

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