CD REVIEW: DAN BRODIE – Big Hearted Lovin’ Man, A Retrospective 1999-2014

Shane | 8 April 2015 | Reply

CD REVIEW: DAN BRODIE – Big Hearted Lovin’ Man, A Retrospective 1999-2014
Fat Swine Records
March 2015
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8 ½ /10

You might wonder why musicians do it nowadays. The internet has taken most of the money out of music, and at best a cult act such as Dan Brodie will make a modest living scratching around to make ends meet.

The answer is right here between the (virtual, if you like) grooves of Brodie’s retrospective throughout his life in music, from the late ‘90s alt-country twang of The Broken Arrows – with whom he picked up a couple of ARIA nominations – through to his more recent, gritty garage rocking Grieving Widows outfit.

Brodie makes music because he has stories to tell, songs to sing, melodies to share – art to create. He’s a largely unsung poet, troubadour, rocker and a minor legend.

Recorded in one night in January 2015 in Melbourne, with only sporadic electric guitar from guitarist brother Chris Brodie, Big Hearted Lovin’ Man sees Brodie reinterpreting his songs with just an honest voice and acoustic guitar, bringing a fragility and raw truth to the likes of Big Black Guitar, Take A Bullet, Sonic Youth’s 100%, (I Don’t Want) Another Lover, the rootsy spiritual stomp of Lower Me Down,

In light of Brodie’s cancer battle which took him out of play for most of 2013, the gentle touch, emotional vocals and evocative lyrics of I’m Floatin’ Mama, Lullaby and I Seen The Light make them impossible not to view in a brand new light.

If it’s part of the magic of art to take on new meanings dependant upon their interpretations as time goes by, then Dan Brodie’s Big Hearted Lovin’ Man is magic indeed, and shows in no uncertain manner how he garnered the admiration of the likes of Spencer P Jones and Paul Kelly.