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The debut album from The Grassy Knoll is a lucid 11 track CD containing more twists and turns than I have listened to in the past. What you have here is nothing short of acid jazz madness, trip hop, and a deliberated gift for those looking to unwind..
The Grassy Knoll's highly anticipated new album, short stories, features vocals by New York performance artist Becca Ayers, and represents the first new Knoll music since 2002's Happily Ever After on Emigre. Honored by Billboard in 1996 for his now-classic 1994 self-titled Verve release, the Grassy Knoll's Bob Green has continued to enjoy a reputation for uncompromising music that consistently defies categorization while transfiguring hip-hop, avant-garde jazz, and heavy rock..
The Grassy Knoll - Short Stories
Tracklist:
1. Carrie Carrie Carrie
2. The Confounded Bridge
3. My Little Black Book
4. Lipstick Traces
5. Down
6. In The Winter of '72
7. They Found Another Arm Today
8. Burn
9. The Drought
10. Broken Wings
11. Feather Dusted My Face
Yet another album reaching the limits of music is reviewed on i:Vibes, and stretching my scope for genre matching to a new level.
A typical day for me comprises of some breakbeat, some trance, some triphop and some ambient, but nothing prepares me for this downtempo jam CD from NY based producers The Grassy Knoll
Even as we tread into Carrie Carrie Carrie, we're already faced with contorsions of beats and trips verging on the industrial side, and I feel an almost vengeance-like vibe which this track emanates; and I can say that I was not too excited about this track.
Moving along to The Confounded Bridge. You can almost this being the theme song for either a jeans commercial, with a combination of electric guitars, dabs of vocals and even a jazzy feel whilst maintaining a dark atmosphere throughout the 2 and a half minutes; great for the moments waiting for the traffic light to change at midnight...
My Little Black Book is very retro and tripped up with jazz and blues influences noticed throughout. By looking at the title, I thought it would be an eerie and dark, almost gothic journey into industrial triphop, but it turned out to be quite a charming piece and I will say that the combination of the sax and the electric vibes is not something I was accustomed to, but quickly accepted to be the strongest track so far.
Lipstick Traces traverses somewhat and I found the vocals in the track a bit disappointing relative to the production. The production itself is great, verging on some 4am chilled triphop whilst containing some enchanting elements throughout.
A quite interlude is what you hear in the 30 seconds which make up Down, and not much to say about that, except that it looks to symbolise perhaps a turning point in the album..
By the title itself, In The Winter of '72 is a very downbeat track, taking away the trippy elements and adding a few pads here and there to form a sublime monologue; definitely reminiscent of older work by Massive Attack, Portishead, et al, combined with Aim or Garbage in a downtempo sort of fashion; one of my top picks for the album thus far.
They Found Another Arm Today in itself is a creepy title, and combining it with the accompanying narration, makes this a gruesome track in a metaphorical sense. Minimal rhythm and melodies, and just the pure strength of the vocals relative to the instrumentals make this track truly haunting, and is not something I care to reproduce on my speakers often... Perhaps for those really spaced out times when you're in that hung-over phase trying to fall asleep...
Burn is something cooler and reminds me a bit like some of Ulrich Schnauss' productions with that 70s vibe to it. The vocals on this is a nice complement to the whizzy, spacy production and the first thing which strikes me from listening to this is Reservoir Dogs, you know, the Quentin Tarantino movie.. Listen for yourself and tell me if it has the same effect for you.
A large proportion of the tracks on the album are sub-3 to 4 minutes in length and as we reach the final 3 tracks, we just budge the 3 minute bar, with the first offering being The Drought, yet another retro production, complete with the electric guitars we have so often found in Sixty One Sixty Eight Records releases, and is quite definitive of their sound. And yet again, the Grassy Knoll make use of narratives over the instrumentals to add some extra flavour to the production, as well as the jazz infusions from the saxophone which can be heard at occassional times during the track. The Drought is neither here or there for me and could appeal to half of you out there.
Broken Wings is very trip hoppy, and I can also sense some sort of 'spiritual' vibe which the track seems to have. Perhaps it's just the mood I am in though... A very laid back relaxed work from the boys and is evidence of the winding down of the album.
Now, we reach the final track Feather Dusted My Face; a track which I can only begin to describe with its plethora of atmospheres and vibes which doesn't really fit into any type or even mixture of genres. After listening to this track 3 times I still cannot decide whether or not I like it as it goes through varying phases and sounds in a modernistic renaissance retro style which does hit a particular note.
This is the 3rd album I've checked out from the Sixty One Sixty Eight (SOSE) label, and I would say that the work produced at the SOSE doesn't stop to intrigue me, taking my music library to different state.
Conclusion:
I will warn you now and say that this album is definitely not for all listeners. Probably the most diverse out of the 3 from SOSE label, it contains a variety of samples, loops, instruments, vocals and hints of jazz, industrial, acid, rock, trip hop and others. On the other hand, a lot would say that this is keeping the music real; no popping the charts, no jumping on the bangwagon, just plain down to earth productions which adds something new to the CD collection.
I would not be listening to this 24/7, but it offers something the rest of my collection doesn't, and keeps you wondering How do we classify this as. Props to the album and if you want something which will give you a few moments to reflect and to relax, this might be the one for you.
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