Today I present yet another track from one of my favourite Australian albums – Curious by My Friend the Chocolate Cake (image inset). Today’s reflective and ambient instrumental is the title track from the band’s 2002 album. I received the album as a gift in the mail after seeing the band’s founder, pianist and singer-songwriter David Bridie perform in Melbourne alongside the late, great Aboriginal singer Archie Roach. Both artists have featured here prominently, and Archie will be making a reappearance in the coming week or so.
The title track, Curious, is a sombre, graceful, and understated piece, and captures the sensibilities of the record very well. The track gently reaches out, almost tentatively – a curious entity of sorts – and hovers without making any splashes or grand statements. Each instrument takes its turn to surface, sometimes merely tinkering or prodding before drifting away, and at other times lingering, like a leaf gently drifting in the wind. It is a modest piece, appropriately curious in tone, and it leaves me in a calm yet contemplative headspace.
Anyone even vaguely familiar with my blog will know what a huge fan I am of David Bridie and the Cake. I saw Bridie perform solo on multiple occasions, as well as with the band. One of my most cherished memories of Melbourne will always be seeing these musicians live. They remain somewhat enigmatic to me, largely because they were never regular fixtures – more like a carnival that passed through every now and then. But when they did arrive, they went all out. Their shows had a baroque, festival-like atmosphere – at least as I remember them – and I was left in awe of their musicianship and their curious, often flamboyant presentation.
Below are a few snippets from the band’s Wikipedia page:
The Australian chamber pop group were formed in 1989 by David Bridie and Helen Mountfort on cello.
My Friend the Chocolate Cake took their name from a song title by an obscure Sydney band, Ya Ya Choral. Bridie admitted that one reason they chose an all-acoustic act was so they did not have to carry around amplifiers.
Curious is the album’s 4th studio album and it peaked at No. 14 on the ARIA Australasian Artists Albums chart. My Friend the Chocolate Cake’s music can be seen to straddle the worlds of ambient and world music, with an emphasis on piano and violin-led acoustic music.
References:
1. My Friend the Chocolate Cake – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I remember them from before, like this
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That’s great you like them too Tom. Thanks for tuning in as always