Music Review: Will Wood, Magpie Brain & Other Stories

And now for something completely different. It's been a while since anyone in the land of the long white cloud paid homage to the likes of Woody Guthrie or black song-makers like Mance Lipscomb.

But that's what makes Auckland's Will Wood so different, and the music he's made for Magpie Brain & Other Stories.

The premise of this style of music is that it tells a story, often an unpleasant one, a tale that reveals itself within the three minutes or so dedicated to it. Like Woody Guthrie and Mance Lipscomb, Will Wood is uncompromising in his approach.

Sometimes that makes for dark songs, spare and reflective of a life hard travelled. Other times it's wry, and even joyful, like Wood's version of the traditional tune John Henry.

It's also appropriate that Will Wood has spent weeks on the road these past couple of years, so had plenty of opportunities to magpie his way around new material.

Magpie Brain and Other Stories has a bunch of credits to roll on behalf of Will Wood. Firstly the recording set-up where these tracks were laid down. Yes, once again Lyttelton's Sitting Room studio with Ben Edwards recording, mixing and producing, provided the inspiration.

Add in a band that Wood knows well, slide guitar maestro Tom Landon-Lane, Dave Khan on violin and mandolin, Reb Fountain backing vocals, Jono Hopley upright bass and Wood himself on percussion.

In a way it seems strange that a guy from an Auckland suburb not only has immersed himself in a genre that's not exactly fashionable, but more to the point has made a unique and very different set of songs.

Just another success story waiting to be told.

Rating: 3/5 stars.