Uncle Fritz - Field Reports

A series of hauntingly atmospheric acoustic lullabies

Album Review by Dave Kerr | 12 Dec 2006
Album title: Field Reports
Artist: Uncle Fritz
Label: Pet Piranha

Dundonian singer/songwriter Fraser Stewart (Alamos, Perineum), AKA Uncle Fritz provides further proof that the current influx of solo six stringers during this hellish industry-driven quest for a palatable Jeff Buckley-a-like needn't turn the non-believers against the idea of zoning out to the soothing sounds of one man and his acoustic. With a similar brooding quality to that of Fence's Pictish Trail, Fritz delivers the darkest of lyrical materials with finger picking finesse and mesmerising depth. Whistling a carefree introductory melody, Memory Man is only vaguely indicative of the melancholy to follow. With an ensuing vocal rollercoaster that fleets between a bass baritone (Nosferatu) and a distinctly higher upper range (Pizza Pus), Fritz manipulates his songs by twisting them into a series of hauntingly atmospheric acoustic lullabies. As a result, 'Field Reports' consistently resists the one dimensional blur that many a folk record struggles to pry away from. This is candid mood music that may occasionally appear blunt, but luckily it's not, y'know, Blunt. [Dave Kerr]

Field Reports' is out in November.
http://www.resonancestore.com/petpiranha/

http://www.petpiranha.com/yourunclefritz