Rodney Branigan
Album: Sketches
Label: LWB
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.brokenguitars.com/index/

Rodney Branigan is an astoundingly good guitarist and his performances are full of showmanship and brilliance as I witnessed a couple of years ago at the Topic Folk Club. Not content with playing one guitar expertly he literally juggled between two instruments in a spellbinding performance using the bodies of the guitar as well as the strings to provide a one man wall of sound.

His talents are not confined to guitar playing, however, as he also has an excellent, if occasionally slightly strident, singing voice. These skills are all very much in evidence on this CD which is primarily made up of songs that Rodney has composed and recorded on his travels around the world. Don't let the sketchiness of the title or the CD packaging fool you, however, as these as fully formed works which are well produced and full of energy.

Not every track hit the mark for me and despite the technical mastery there is an element of homogeneity to Rodney's style that meant the CD almost reached the border of my engagement - but the moving track 'She Bled' came just in time to avoid this.

On balance this is probably a CD that will primarily appeal to guitar enthusiasts rather than the more casual listener but I'd suggest you check out Rodney's website and make up your own mind!

Joe Grint