dsfeco is David Fetcho, an avant-garde musician in his late 60s who has been composing commissioned material for theater, dance, video and more for decades. He’s also been writing within all sorts of genres since high school. In 1967, his college band was signed to Jubilee Records, and he remained in music as a career ever since, from fronting cult ’60s groups like The People to his successful work with wife Susan English Fetcho; they collaborated on 14 original dance/music/theater works that have been performed throughout the world, with a particularly passionate fan base in the San Francisco Bay area.
Fetcho’s music is certainly theatrical and thought-provoking, delivered in a spoken-word reminiscent of the most idiosyncratic material from Scott Walker or David Byrne. Off his brand new debut solo 6-song EP of the same name, “Watch It Sparkle” is a great example of Fetcho’s enjoyable oddities. This lyrical-driven reflection features a queasily developing melodic background consisting of chirping nature sounds at first, before evolving into an assortment of lushly melodic brass and free-jazz complementing Fetcho’s quivering captivation. Meanwhile, an infectious incorporation of synth-pop arises around the four-minute mark. Overall, it’s a stylistically eclectic journey that’s wholly unpredictable and somewhat uncomfortable, but captivating in its own unique way. Give it and the rest of the album a listen, for sure, if you’re a fan of Scott Walker’s more recent offerings. I’d love to see a collaboration between those two.
