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"Acoustic blues rock fans, Bjorn Berge is back with his 12 string guitar, his raspy voice and his fifteenth album, "Heavy Gauge"."
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4/5
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In guitarist's language, "Heavy Gauge" means strong string pull. The bigger the strings are, the more the resonance is, so the better it sounds. Nothing like it to increase the attack and the acoustics of the instrument. However, to play with such large strings, you need lumberjack hands. With a 6-string guitar, it is already a physical feat, but with a 12-string, it is almost superhuman. Bjorn Berge combines both (12 strings and 013-056 for the connoisseurs). With such a combination, no need to have a band, the Norwegian covers the sound spectrum by himself. It is besides most often alone that he occurs on stage since nearly 30 years, with as only weapons, his guitars and his raspy voice made for the blues.
And it is almost alone that he recorded "Heavy Gauge", his fifteenth album. Almost, because on the nine tracks that make up the album, six are guitar-vocal tracks on which Bjorn Berge shows all his science of picking and slide playing, the most impressive being without a doubt the groove that he is able to infuse into essentially acoustic tracks ('I Got It Made', 'The Wrangler Man'). Inspired as much by the blues of the origins as by the bluegrass, the Norwegian developed a percussive guitar technique and a vocal approach so particular that even the slowest pieces give off a rock atmosphere that few singers are capable of inhabiting, like the very dark 'Bottle Floats' on which hovers the shadow of Tom Waits.
Whether solo (the excellent 'Alone Again') or with his band (the wildly funky boogie 'Rip Off'), it is this rock spirit that makes the strength and originality of Bjorn Berge. In more than one way, "Heavy Gauge" looks like an acoustic version of Me And That Man, in less powerful but in much more technical, because the precision and the fluidity of the play of the Norwegian are in all points remarkable.
Except maybe the title 'Coliseum', more pop and more mainstream, it's difficult to reproach anything to "Heavy Gauge" which, in the acoustic blues rock genre, proves to be of a formidable efficiency. It remains to be seen if this album will find an audience beyond the restricted circle of the genre's fans. Anyway, it will not prevent Bjorn Berge from continuing to set the European stages on fire with his guitars and his charisma. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. The Wrangler Man - 3:22
02. A Matter of Time - 3:26
03. Bound to Ramble - 4:47
04. I Got It Made - 3:07
 05. Rip Off - 3:26
06. Straydog - 4:02
07. Alone Again - 3:39
08. Coliseum - 3:24
09. Bottle Floats - 4:31
LINEUP:
Bjorn Berge: Chant / Guitares
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