How could a band named Grails not attract my attention, at the very least?
Luckily, I like their sound (at least what I’ve heard of it). It’s straight instrumental and rather free-form, featuring various effects both acoustic and electronic. Figuring out what to call that sound is tricky, however. One reviewer from their native Portland a few years back said:
A typical Grails song (if there is such a thing) starts with a loosely strummed guitar, or wind, or ocean tides, and layers are slowly added bit by bit until a pulse of bass and drum-driven groove reveals itself. Plenty of stereo effects and creative mixing ensure that sheets of sound dance in one speaker and out the other. The organic analog tones naturally blend acoustic instruments with vintage synths. Kraut-rock jams culminate in a final hook or epiphany, often stopping before the listeners can nod their red-eyed heads a second time. Guitarist Zak Riles defends this method: “We do not have vocals so we end up trying to figure out the best way to make a song interesting compositionally without blowing our wad.”
On Amazon, reviewers tend to describe them via simile: they’re like Explosions in the Sky, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Santana. (One reviewer of an album there sums up: “a dreary droney, Hawkwind meets Gore sort of dirgedoom vibe. Epic and amazing.” It would probably help if I recognized the Hawkwind/Gore references, but that passage still feels slightly out of my mental reach.)
As for Grails themselves, on their MySpace page, they identify their genre as “soul.” Um, okaaaay…
Two selections for you today. The first is “I Led Three Lives,” from their forthcoming album called Deep Politics. It does remind me of what I called “thought music” in a post a couple years ago.
[Below, click Play button to begin I Led Three Lives. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 8:49 long.]
Next, an earlier, more acoustic-driven number, “Broken Ballad,” from 2003’s Burden of Hope:
[Below, click Play button to begin Broken Ballad. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 3:47 long.]
The Grails Web site is here. Note that the trailer for the new album includes no actual music from that album; instead — for reasons unknown (to me) — they’ve chosen as their soundtrack “Feels So Good,” the 1977 hit from jazz-pop flugelhornist Chuck Mangione. Which I honestly don’t mind listening to, but ah, the freedom to make enigmatic artistic decisions…!
Ashleigh Burroughs says
Exceptionally odd, but I’m glad to have been exposed to it… once.
a/b
marta says
Listening to this music I feel like I should be inside an art project–walking through something with shadows and moving lights and images perhaps.
Which means I like it of course.
And so I came across this video about art, and parts of it made me think of you–the music bits in particular. Not sure if you’ll find the whole of it as interesting as I did, but I like the band playing in what I think is an elevator using a magazine as an instrument. Also, the video makes me feel very old fashioned.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/18qCMM/www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/must-watch-the-future-of-art
P.S. Now that I’m even further into that first Grails’ song, I like it even more. Thanks for the find.
John says
a/b: I know, just what you need — more disorientation!
I have no idea what your own musical tastes might be; have you ever said?
John says
marta: That’s a good mental picture — I mean, the idea of using this as the background music for a walking tour in a museum or gallery.
As an aside — and I know I’ve said things like this before — I’d love to see what your browser history looks like, and how long you spent at each site.
What about the video made you feel old-fashioned?
For every one else’s reference: The video which marta links to relates to a project called The Future of Art; the whole thing is about 20 minutes long but worth watching.From The Future of Art home page on Vimeo:
The scene in the elevator starts about 3:30 from the beginning. Here’s just that scene (not counting about a minute during which the musicians are actually all getting into the elevator, and including — sorry — a 30-second ad). The band is Arcade Fire, and the song is “Neon Bible.”
Nance says
Broken Ballad is not unpleasant. I’d have been all over it in 1974…sitting on the floor, listening to Chick Corea and The Grail, gazing at the cichlids in the fish tank, utterly herbed out.
Now? Ehhhh…s’okay. What a/b said. Still, it did take me back, so thanks for the trip!
John says
Nance: “Broken Ballad is not unpleasant”: ha! The New Yorker used to fill in the ends of articles with little news items and such, tagged with funny comments by staffers like E.B. White. Your comment reminds me of one of the categories with which they’d headline some of the newsbreaks (as they were called): Department of Delicacy.
marta says
@John – Ha! I have friends who hate Arcade Fire, but I hard;y know who they are. Oh well. I liked that song.
Why does the video make me feel old-fashioned? Because all my art is with paper and ink. Hey, I print out words. That’s my tech.