16 Horsepower-sideburn David Eugene Edwards rejoiced us a year ago with 'Woven Hand': a solo album disguised as a side project, which we liked even better than the actual 16 Horsepower record 'Secret South', preceding it. Choreographer Wim Vandekeybus even heard dance music in it - someone had to do it - and used Edwards' hypochondriac folk for his 'blush'-performance.

'Blush Music' serves up the music to this theatrical excursion. We already knew four of the songs from the first album, albeit in different versions. The resounding funeral march into which Edwards turned Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine' can now be heard in an endlessly long variant, with the croaking cast of Hitchcock's 'The Birds' in a well-appreciated supporting role. The desolate 'Story and Pictures' and the apocalyptic twin 'My Russia' and 'Your Russia' were already highlights on 'Woven Hand', and they gain in expressiveness here due to more attentive production.

The new material too is at times frightfully powerful. 'Crippelgate' is reminiscent of the early solo albums of Nick Cave, 'Aeolian Harp' is dark church music that keeps the bats in the tower, and the manic 'White Bird' sounds as if Edwards is being chased by a pack of dogs from hell.

The unpleasant noise that is presented under the titles 'Animalitos' and 'Snake Bite' should be categorized as sound scapes, a genre that Edwards practises with a great deal of verve that you will unfortunately look for fruitlessly in 'Idols 2003'. Rest assured: 'Blush Music', the right size in ballet shoes and a good antidepressant will undoubtedly turn your living room into a jolly madhouse too.

Translation by Lot