Trollheart

It is
Fair enough
#Predictable
#VoteFrownlandOff2017

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Electrophonic Tonic

The Gris Gris
The Gris Gris



I wish I could give a longer review of this, but it's been a hectic week. I work at a museum and April break is coming up and I've spent all week prepping for our break week programs.

Basically, the quieter/acousticy/shoegazish parts of this record reminded me of stuff like BJTM's Anemone, and the rockier parts reminded me of a litany of late 60's psychedelic bands. But the one that I probably identified Gris Gris with the most was the 13th Floor Elevators. Gris Gris had just the right amount of stomp and an underlying darkness in their sound that made me identify them more with the Texas psychedelic rock bands (Elevators, Moving Sidewalks) than their California counterparts.

We've listened to a lot of bands in this club that have added psychedelic splashes to their music, and while Gris Gris are definitely adding more than a splash, it's probably been the one I've most enjoyed. I do think the album ends on a bit of a whimper with the last two tracks, but everything before then is high quality.

8.5/10

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The Batlord

The Gris Gris - The Gris Gris

This is one of those albums that I like, but will probably never have anything better to say than that. It's pretty alright, but nothing really jumps out at me, even though there's plenty that's actually memorable. It's got a nice 60s psych rock vibe, with some fun garage rock bits, but sometimes the band betrays their probable roots in boring indie rock and come across as limp. And I'd never say they were ever particularly in all but the best moments. A perfectly serviceable album but nothing special.

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djchameleon

The Gris Gris

I'm such a procrastinator but I did happen to listen to this album twice so I should give some quick input on it. Mary #38 turned out to be one of my favorite tracks from the album. I'm pretty sure it stems from having an early White Stripes bluesy sound to it. Necessary Separation turned out to be my other favorite track. Based off of the first track, I would have thought this album was made in the 60s but as the album went out it was very clear that it popped up during the garage rock revival of the early 2000s. This is one of those albums I would randomly put on but not one that leaves me yearning to hear it because I miss the overall feel of it.

3/5

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

Trollheart

You may already have done so but I can't find them so
Elphenor
Psy-Fi
could you please nominate an album? Elph, you're due in two weeks, Psy a few after. I just want to have them in the queue. Thanks.

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Trollheart

Who woulda thunk Batty would be into Country? Well, I know since he discovered Townes van Zandt he's had something of a Country fetish, and we've heard him wax lyrical about Dolly, so maybe, but still, on the face of it an odd choice for the Batlord. He's full of surprises. Right off the bat (sorry) I'll say this is not my kind of Country. Batty has mentioned “outlaw” Country before and I certainly agree with him it's the best – your Willie Nelsons, your Hank Williamses, your Merle Haggards – and this is nowhere close to Outlaw Country. If anything, it's cheesy as ****, almost showband with Country thrown in, but it's a decent album for all that.

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
Well I know this song, so it's a good start.

2. What did you think of the opening track?
I know “I fall to pieces” and she sings it well. Kind of restrained musically, as much of the rest of the album will not be.

3. What did you think of the next track?
Nah, not really me. Bit too cutesy-poo and hardly Country at all.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions? (see note 1)
It's ****ing Patsy Cline!

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not? (see note 2)
Not my kind of Country, though not too bad. A bit too showband-y and too much in the way of backing vocalists/almost choirs for my tastes.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?
Better, often, but really dipped on some tracks. Generally better though.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
Basic love songs put to a Country theme. No songs about dust bowls or bar-room fights here!

8. Did you like the instrumental parts? (see note 3)
Generally, not really. This is Country without any teeth or balls. Sorry Patsy!

9. What did you think of the production?
You know me and production...

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
Who hasn't heard of Patsy C?

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
I do listen to some Country but it has more balls than this.

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
About the same really; having heard it once I only needed two more listens – one after the other – to form my opinion. I knew it wouldn't change with extended listens.

13. What would you class as your favourite track(s), if you have any?
“I fall to pieces”, “Crazy”, “The wayward wind”, “South of the border” (I prefer Slim Whitman's version though), “I love you so much it hurts”, “True love”

14. And the one(s) you liked least?
“Foolin around”, “Seven lonely days”, “San Antonio Rose”, “Walking after midnight”

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated? (see note 4)
n/a

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
No. This was enough and I wouldn't be interested in hearing any more.

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
Sort of; I thought I would like it more, but it's just too cheesy even for me, and even for Country.

18. Did the album end well?

It was ok; song was a bit weak for a closer.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
No. There's nothing wrong with the album, it's just to me it's a case of it's Country, Jim, but not as we know it.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
It was a bit of a mixed bag, so from that point of view not too cohesive really.
I'd give it a Like, and a 6/10

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OccultHawk

Patsy Cline - Showcase

This music is positively unassailable. It doesn't even matter what I think, what any of you think, or even how professional critics and musicologists see this. Just the first four words: I Fall to Pieces- once those vocals are sung it's game over. Endlessly echoing through jukeboxes, AM Radio, the soundtrack to livers destroyed by beer and whiskey numbing lonely broken hearts of millions of people. 4 words and it's over. This is part of our collective consciousness if there is such a thing. A perfect five out of five that transcends into the realm of defining what we are.

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innerspaceboy

Patsy Cline - Showcase

PREFACE: I’m a pretentious knob. I have absolutely zero contextual understanding of pop culture or of any world outside my desktop. I know maybe six people on the planet. And none of them listen to country. In 35 years of studying music history, I’ve never heard of Patsy Cline. As such, I cannot fathom what the hell anyone could possibly enjoy about this watered-down, tasteless excuse for an album.

FIRST IMPRESSION - Dear god. Okay, when the hell was this recorded? ... 1961… well, it’s cutie-pie music. I’m trying to understand what I’m hearing. I can’t detect any agony here. No desperate internal existential struggle. No artfulness or suffering, so that entire scope of music is out. There’s no depth or poetry about the songwriting either. So I’m still grappling to understand why anyone attributes any value to this bland nonsense. Authenticity is out the window with the incredible artificiality of the artist’s overly-polished performance, so there’s no chance for any relatability here. Okay… what else could be the motivation? There’s no musical proficiency. No mastery of musicianship in either instrumentation or compositional structure. It’s all just… samey… simple... and self-parodically formulaic. There’s certainly nothing intellectual going on... I’m really at a loss. I don’t understand why this music or its genre exists. It’s painfully transparent and evokes absolutely no response from the listener, neither cerebral nor emotional. What is the point of this stuff? What function does it serve? What need does it fulfill?

I’ll have to read everyone else’s reviews. I’m definitely curious to understand what I’m missing.

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The Batlord

The one thing that hamstrings me for this album is that I kind of have to be in the right mood for 60s/70s Nashville sound country pop to listen to her properly. On any given day I am still too green to all this to connect with her in the same way I can a thrash or doom metal album on any given day, and unfortunately now is not that day.

But on that day when all is good, Patsy Cline entrances me. I remember a Plug session talking to Chio about this very subject and talking about how a story I'd heard about a childhood illness that altered Patsy's vocal chords to give her the voice she became known for. There's just something about the way she sings that legitimately gives me the heeby jeebies at times, and that story makes me think that there's an uncanny valley aspect to her singing, where a human voice simply isn't meant to sing like that and it ****s with me. In an amazing way.

It's not an obvious thing, cause for the most part she doesn't "sang", she croons in a very polite way that doesn't challenge one's perception of the human voice in the way that Diamanda Galas does, but I can think of no other singer in Patsy's time period or genre who croons in such a powerful and subtlely alien way. She's simply unique in a way that is very easy to overlook.

But if it were just technique that she had to offer, I imagine I wouldn't care nearly as much. Her ultimate ace in the hole is her ability to emote. "Crazy" is her obvious song that everyone on Earth has heard, and it's easy to ignore her performance as it is 60s schmaltz to the Nth degree, but there's an intensity to the song that makes it feel like she's on the verge of an emotional breakdown and barely keeping her emotions in check, even if the subject matter is nothing more than jukebox fare. There's simply a beauty to Patsy Cline's singing style that is easily lost in the decades since her death.

If there's one major flaw to her and this album, it's that she never really had the time that so many other artists did to evolve their style and find songwriters to truly plumb their depths (she died within 6 years of her debut, and 2 years of her big break). If Patsy Cline had ever found songwriters and/or lyricists to truly express her vocal, emotional depths, then I believe she could have put out consistent, cohesive albums to challenge even such as Townes Van Zandt or Willie Nelson. As it is she still put out some of the most addictive country songs of all-time.

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