Press Burnt Friedman ‘First Night Forever’
“Burnt Friedman has worked under noms de plume such as Nonplace Urban Field and Flanger, as well as forming The Nu Dub Players and collaborating with Can´s Jaki Liebezeit on Secret Rhythms (2002) and Secret Rhythms 2 (2005). The Can connection is apposite, as Friedman´s music shares that group´s sense of tropical, funk humidity and cool schematics, as especially evinced in their mid-to late period ( at times it recalls Rite Time, Can´s 1989 comeback album). First Night Forever exudes the idyllic, citrus warmth implied in its title and features a number of soulful guest vocalists, including Steve Spacek and Barbara Panther, as well as the rather more caustic Theo Altenberg, the artist/singer/writer formerly involved in the 70s Commune movement in Germany, who lends a tot of rum to this heady mix. “Healer” threatens at any second to break into Sly & The Family Stone´s “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)”; “Walk With Me” has the feeling of exploring the back streets of soul´s old town; “Western Smoke” hangs together by silken jazzy threads. First Night Forever is a music that gets into you, rather than vice versa. It is music to be seduced by, rather than straightforwardly consumed. With its mosaic of myriad, sensuous intricacies and sound colours, it´s tactile on the eardrum, almost palbably aromatic, a complex feast of sensations which bring you back to every -first time- you ever experienced.” (David Stubbs, The Wire, Oct 07)