Artist description Home .. Rock .. Dark .. BRIDGE BRIDGE MUSIC BIOGRAPHY MAILING LIST LIVE INFO NEWS Location: Oxford | United Kingdom Main genre: Dark ALBUMS (2) Drowning By Numbers Helen Of Troy SINGLES Email this artist BIOGRAPHY Bridge are Colin MacKinnon and Ed Scroggie with a set of regular guest artists. Together their musical talents combine to create a powerful melodic song writing style in which a strong emphasis is laid upon a songs lyrical content. This maybe explained by the fact that Bridge draw upon influences from the likes of Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson and Thom Yorke. "Helen of Troy" (2000) is the third album from Bridge and follows on from "Drowning by Numbers"(1999). Bridges' songs themselves are fairly evenly divided between piano and guitar based compositions; fusing together traditional acoustic folk instruments in an Alternative/Rock frame work.

Music Style Experimental acoustic rock

Musical Influences The Band, Dylan, Radiohead, Longpigs

Similar Artists Mercury Rev, Longpigs, The Band

Artist History We started in 1997 with 'The Depths of The Sea'-a set of superior 4-track demos. After Ed updated his gear to 16-track digital we got more serious and released 'Drowning by Numbers'. Songs from this album made it onto peoplesound.com's rock chart, occupying Numbers 1 and 2 in 2000. Our most recent Helen of Troy has achieved some airplay on WERS Boston, WKDU Philadelphia and Radio Volta WPEB.

Group Members Ed Scroggie: Drums, Bass, guitars Colin MacKinnon: Piano, organ, guitar,accordion,vox PLUS Alex Ward: Clarinet and Sax Matt Brown: Trumpet Heather McNaughton: French Horn Tom Lee: Cornet Sophocles Mavroedis: Flute Kate Kilpatrick: Vocal Sarah Wickham: Voc al and Violal0

Instruments Piano,bass,drums,horns,organ,guitar,flute

Albums Drowning by Numbers (1999) and Helen of Troy (2000)

Press Reviews Nightshift The third album from Bridge is, if nothing else, a bit of a detour from the jagged indie and grinding metal that fills the area’s venues. Bridge are folkies and not afraid to admit as much. Quoting the likes of Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson as influences explains much although the inclusion of Thom Yorke in their list is something of a mystery. The mention in the press release of traditional acoustic folk done within the framework of ‘alternative rock’ is equally misleading since ‘Helen of Troy’ is every inch an old-school folk album. The songs are mostly piano-led affairs and tend towards the introverted side of winsome. Only occasionally do they break from the mould - the brassy, bluesy ‘Brutesville’ is ballsy enough but generally the whole affair is content to drift along with amiable, soft-focus hints of Nick Drake. It doubtless works better experienced in an intimate pub environment, abetted by copious amounts of ale which help both band and aud ience to come out of their shell. Colin MacKinnon has a rich, Celtic voice and the instrumentation is both imaginative and accomplished but the album struggles to hold your attention, neither dark and emotive enough for those solitary whisky sessions nor effusive enough to get you jigging around the kitchen. April 2001 Making Music Magazine - Albums page Our pick of the current crop of self-financed CD releases. Described in their press release, rather portentiously, as drawing on influences from Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson to Thom Yorke. Bridge (Colin MacKinnon and Ed Scroggie) are actually rather closer in feel and approach to 70s folk noodlers Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull or perhaps Richard Thompson’s more psychedelic moments (which, let’s be honest, is no bad thing). But whilst melodic folk-prog might not sound that appetising, what this album lacks in all-new millennium, baggy-arsed togs it more than makes up for in very n i cely realised acoustic-based experimental chops.› Bridge/Helen Of Troy In Greek mythology, Helen reined as the most beautiful woman in Greece. She was the indirect cause of the Trojan War. She was a daughter of the almighty Zeus, her mother either Leda or Nemesis. She was married to Menelaus, but lured away by Paris. When Paris declared Aphrodite the most beautiful of all goddesses, she rewarded him with the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Seducing He len with Aphrodite’s help, Paris carried Helen off to Troy where the Greeks sent a military force to pursue them. Paris died in that war and Helen ran off to Sparta, back to her husband, Menelaus. This lesson in mythology is important if we are to unders tand what Bridge expresses in the duo’s new CD, Helen Of Troy. Colin MacKinnon and Ed Scroggie have conjured up, more than written an album of songs that dare to touch on the core of sadness and retribution the tale of Helen weaves. With a strong vocal l ead, sprinkled here and there with unmistakable accent, musically and lyrically, the duo provides a prosaic atmosphere with songs that, like the Helen tale, corrupt the splendid simplicity of life. This combination of songs is a mixture of melody and mental madness, Bridge acting as the minstrels of ordinary mayhem. Songs like The Fashionable Tiger and Helen pronounce, in tale-weaving glory, the common pains of being normal. As in the latter song’s lyrics, we hear the Dylanesque (Thomas, not Bob) ranting along with the poet’s truth mongering. "What is your beauty for?/ They kiss you goodnight and then they lock their doors/What is your beauty for?/I don’t want it to be that way anymore." Sharp and unexpected chord changes punctuate the theater of each son g, more effective in songs like Maximum Louie, Louie and Giveaway than in others. And tempo changes, as in …Tiger, put the emotion on edge to match the lyrics. No song makes its point nor hits its target stronger than Trespass. The prose of the lyric abo ut catching and skinning the deer is grade A poetry: "…as a broken east wind moans …" and "she is handy with a knife…" are not easily adaptable phrases in a song lyric, but Bridge presents it with a natural flair of tongue. Though all of the songs fit fi rmly into this theme of common dramas and petty passions, some, like Trespass, dwarf the others in body and mind. It’s a common malady with artists that take on greater notions than boy-girl love—easily the worst songs are better than one another while ha ving to perform on stage with the few that caress brilliance. Like Out Of The Garden, which on its own stands as the perfect middle-class passion play, but is overshadowed by the analogies and facial expressions of Trespass. Still, in songs like Brutesvil le, where the singer sounds like James Taylor back when he had hair, we are treated to musical offerings of common language in a format so rare in young artists today. "…had the power to lay back and take it on the chin …" is angst with a blanket of sorrow, appropriately followed by the resignation of escape: "…moving out of Brutesville." Yes, the British palookas are rampant with a costly awareness. Helen Of Troy delivers tunes woven like the stone walls along the undulating hills of Yorkshire—they have substance and a strange sense of dignity; they are tangible while emotionally touching. And, as in the story and message of the CD’s namesake, all elements remain in motion until a strange form of justice is declared. ç

Location Oxford, Oxon - United Kingdom

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).