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Justice and Pride
By Noel Gardner
Reviewed by Nick Everett This 13-track debut solo CD by Sunshine Coast performer Noel Gardner is a welcome contribution to Australian folk music. Gardner's lyrics pull no punches, while his music blends a variety of folk styles and reflects collaboration with a wide range of performers in and around the Brisbane folk scene. Gardner's title track, "Justice and Pride", is about the land rights struggles of Murri people from around Goondiwindi in south Queensland. The track also captures the musical flavour of the CD, with clay pots, the harmonica and violin accompanying Gardner's acoustic guitar. "Fraser" and "Mt Coolum" describe the natural beauty of two places which are sacred to Aboriginal people. These songs, as well as "Sunrise" and "Rainbow Man", catch a feel for the Aboriginal dream time and the scars on the land produced by mining companies' and corporate greed. In "Mt Coolum" Gardner describes as a wonder that defies a conquered landscape: "Now in that sea of cane fields, you still stand so free/ The forests they have gone now, bared for all to see .../ Gushing down these rocky hills, that river of fears/ White man's greed of black man's need/ Today's dreamtime tears." This song also draws on a medley of different sounds: didgeridoo by Mark Gillet, mandolin by Steve Cook, dobro by Dave Burrows and congas by Peter Hudson. "Sunshine" maintains a bouncy rhythm with a combination of didgeridoo and boomerangs. "Profit and Illusion", brings back memories of Redgum, with its punchy lyrics and jovial style. "Havens of dollars, fistfuls of crime,/ You take from the country, you take what's mine", rings the chorus. Helping Gardner along in this bluesy number are Andrew Higgins on piano, impressive harmony vocals from Lonnie Martin and Toni Wood and a "fistful" of contributions using an array of acoustic instruments. Martin and Wood (from Tangled Web) provide backing vocals in "Freedom" and "The Writing's on the Wall". A highlight of this CD, and the only song not written by Gardner, is "Every Man" by Fred Small. Gardner's version is excellent and brings new life to the song with a message that challenges domestic violence, homophobia, war and male chauvinism.