Bayou Moon is not dark and brooding, as the liner notes suggest, but it could be termed "ambient Delta blues," for much of the album features subtle Delta blues-based guitar playing over synthetic washes of sounds very reminiscent of
Brian Eno's Music For Films and
Fred Frith's Gravity. The opening epic-like composition resembles
Mike Oldfield's work in its structure and guitar atmospherics; no wonder --
Newman produced and engineered most of Oldfield's catalog. The instrumental "Bayou" was written, played, recorded and produced by
Newman. This one-man show was released as part of Coda's mid-'80s new age "Landscape" series. ~ David Ross Smith