Grails - Take Refuge in Clean Living
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Music CD Cover
Artist: GrailsBrand: Dig
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2008-05-13
Music Label: Important Records
Soundtracks:
- Stoned at the Taj Again
- PTSD
- 11th Hour
- Take Refuge
- Clean Living
Free Music Notes for Take Refuge in Clean Living
Free Music Review: Heady, dense, trippy, awesome, epic stuff
Hit: 5 Stars
I happened upon Grails looking over the vinyl catalog of Important Records. I bought the vinyl LP on a whim and am so very glad I did.
If you like to turn down the lights, close your eyes, and let the music carry you places, and aren't afraid to take a few scary turns here and there, check it out. The instrumentation is reverb-heavy guitars, wall-shaking bass, and drums that feel 5 stories tall. There is a fair amount of additional instrumentation - a hammered dulcimer, pipe organ, and some tape effects (the opening track starts out with some Morse code, the "is anybody out there" call of CQ practiced by ham radio operators) and other atmospheric touches infuse the grooves.
The music is somewhat minimalistic, typically starting out with a bare theme, adding instruments, growing to a climax and then cooling off and beginning the next track. The songs are almost all in minor keys, giving them an introspective, dark feel. If you are fan of the music of Steve Reich (such as Music for Eighteen Musicians), Supercollider, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, etc., and don't mind your music without the distraction of vocals and lyrics, you will likely love this album.
Take Refuge in Clean Living Poster
"Grails' Middle European music exudes a dark occult mystery few are capable of achieving. Like some East German ensemble of the early '70s, their heathen Ur-klang combines acoustic guitars, banjos, and bouzoukis with drums and samples that summon up the Ancients." -- Julian CopeThe 2006-07 touring incarnation of Grails included good friend and drummer Ben Nugent, allowing Emil Amos to switch to third guitar for the band's live instrumentation. The DNA of this "guitar-dense" lineup allowed for new types of songs and bigger melodies. In early 2007, the then-five-piece entered Steven Lobdell's (Faust) Audible Alchemy to document the new songs written with this augmented sound, and the resultant sessions make up Take Refuge In Clean Living. (The group has since returned to the original four members). Opening with a nod to Syd Barret's Pink Floyd, the album begins with Morse Code before dropping into one of the heaviest slow-burn grooves in the Grails canon. Sounding something like Hawkwind and Ravi Shankar scoring Bladerunner, it's lysergic and earthy in a new way. The rest of the album moves from blissful Eno-inspired ambience and epic Morricone rock hymns to an unexpected take on a Ventures tune that returns the listener back to the very beginnings of instrumental rock music.
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