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Thread: New Chris Thile album

  1. #26

    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    So I just got done listening through the whole thing. There is some really cool stuff on there. But i think where it breaks down for me is that it can get so sparse with just his mandolin that I can't find a structure to some of it. It comes across as free form noodling. And I know that isn't what it is, but to me the sections that shine are where he uses strumming and more chordal accompaniment. His vocals are great as usual, though I find something grating about some of his sound choices and use of falsetto at times. Though that's a me problem. Overall I think it's a beautifully performed and recorded album. I don't think it will be everyone's cup of tea, but if you play the instrument it's hard not to appreciate Thile.

  2. #27
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    I know this has been posted before but I can't resist......


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4y-yN2MHRY
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  4. #28
    Ursus Mandolinus Fretbear's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Quote Originally Posted by BadExampleMan View Post
    Thile's progressive work is something I want to like more than I do. I tend to blame my ear, though, for not being educated enough to follow where he's trying to take me.
    So there's no surprise for me, just bewilderment. I'm not standing on a comfy rug, I'm walking across a floor in the dark that's strewn with Legos.
    Quote Originally Posted by MandoManCaleb View Post
    I find something grating about some of his sound choices and use of falsetto at times. Though that's a me problem.
    It's amazing that people (I'm not saying that either Caleb or BadExampleMan are) almost feel the need to apologize for not liking or enjoying certain types of music because of it's particular provenance.
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  5. #29

    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Similar response. And, freak coincidence, I also have been playing open back banjo for a couple of months with some help from Adam Hurt. I never got banjo before but clawhammer is very interesting.
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  7. #30

    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    For me, this album is a bit of a mixed bag...and I love virtually everything Thile does. On the positive side:
    - I really think "Laysong" is brilliant. I know it's a bit esoteric, but it's centered around enough chordal and melodic structure that I find it quite beautiful (haunting, really if you also consider the lyrics).
    - The Salt in the Wounds trilogy is also very enjoyable to me. I love the themes it weaves together and, I know this may sound crazy to some, but I both appreciate it and enjoy listening to it. It's definitely a "love it or hate thing", it seems. I've let some people listen to it who think it's brilliant and others who have said it's "the worst think I've ever heard".
    - Won't You Come Sing for Me is wonderful, catchy, and traditional

    HOWEVER, I find "God is Alive Magic is Afoot" to be extremely pretentious and....just...bizarre, really. I had to look up the origins of it (as I was unfamiliar) and I'm not surprised after learning that it's basically a drug-induced rant from an obscure Leonard Cohen novel. Coincidentally, I just finished reading a Flannery O'Connor short story entitled "The Lame Shall Enter First" which is equally bizarre, but goes the other direction with the messaging...and feels a lot more powerful.

    Dionysus worked when it was the butt of a joke on stage (in which Thile tells how he wrote it thinking Dionysus was pronounced differently), but not really as a recording.

    Finally, I'm really curious why he didn't include a song of the week from LFH entitled "Vail Monograph". It totally fits thematically with the rest of the album and might be more beautiful than some of the other songs. My only guess is that the lyrics from "Vail Monograph" are closer to the Flannery O' Connor view of things rather than the Leonard Cohen view....and, of course, that might look bad to some.

  8. #31
    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Haven’t read this thread yet but just downloaded the album and looking forward to some more “Hot Bluegrass” from Chris!








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  10. #32

    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Quote Originally Posted by Fretbear View Post
    It's amazing that people (I'm not saying that either Caleb or BadExampleMan are) almost feel the need to apologize for not liking or enjoying certain types of music because of it's particular provenance.
    I can see how mine would be read that way. I just chose a roundabout way of saying, his weird "Ha ha's" and some of his falsetto isn't to my taste. And I mainly don't want to discourage folks from giving it a try. It's certainly going to be a polarizing album. I know if I played it for my wife I would get a less than positive response.

  11. #33
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    I know this is getting a bit off the Laysongs thread, but here's one of the musical highlights of the Great Pause as Chris inspired a lot of music in the "Live From Home" series. Don't miss the exquisite mando bridge on This Is The Song (Good Luck). It was written pre-Covid but worked perfectly in the melancholy early days of the pandemic.

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  12. #34
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    MandoManCaleb, Speaking of Chris' falsetto, his song by the same name, is close to the top of my Best of the 2010's list. Here's the video link to the "Live From Here" performance, but the studio-polished, best recording of the song is on his "Thanks For Listening" album.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNyQ...&start_radio=1
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  13. #35

    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    In light of some of the comments, I gave the album a few more listens. I was struck by my absence of emotional reaction, that it didn't move me in any way. I think it is music for the ehad rather than the heart. As a musical genius (which I suspect is a fitting description of Thile) I get frustrated that he is pointing his talent in this direction. The reason we still listen to four chord Bill Monroe songs and feel so inspired by them to play is because their simplicity conceals the beauty of their melodies and feeling. My suspicion is that while Thile may gain a certain satisfaction from producing something so technically impressive, i doubt it will be something people are inspired by in ten years time. There is a special skill in creating music that stands the test of time, and I have no doubt that Chris Thile could produce music as beautiful and moving as he has already done in the past, but his mindset is somewhere else, and my recod collection will be the poorer for it. I'm no classical music fan, but I listen to his recording of the Bach material every month or so, and it's moving stuff.
    To use a movie analogy, it doesn't have to be a Mrvel movie to be popular, the Godfather and Deer Hunter are thoughtful, intelligent pieces of art, but they have mass appeal because they explore our emotions. This new album feels mor elike a maths lesson: complex and impressive, but I'm relieved when it's done.

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  15. #36
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    One has to believe the music moved him, even if it doesn’t move you or me.

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  17. #37

    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Listening now and liking it more than expected. Nice intimate sound with just mandolin and vocals. I'm listening on shuffle and really enjoyed the Sonata so far, and just the overall sound of the album. I'm not always a big fan of Chris's voice, but his mandolin sounds great. The thing I enjoy most about his playing is the tone and smoothness. He's able to get a nice, ringing, legato tone which is difficult on our instruments. I'm often turned off of mandolin music by the tone and attack that all too often sounds like popsicle sticks stuck in bicycle spokes.

    It's a bit of an "out there" experimental album, so far. But he's so prolific, why not?

  18. #38
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Quote Originally Posted by BadExampleMan View Post
    One has to believe the music moved him, even if it doesn’t move you or me.
    Cool, he can buy up all the copies.
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  20. #39
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album


  21. #40
    Oval holes are cool David Lewis's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    I think it’s a masterpiece. I’ve listened to it five times now, absorbing it. The last track is in the top 5 of Thile compositions I think. It’s one of the great solo mandolin records. Mike Compton can do it - rotten tatters is another masterpiece. And now Thile.
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  22. #41

    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Romkey View Post
    Similar response. And, freak coincidence, I also have been playing open back banjo for a couple of months with some help from Adam Hurt. I never got banjo before but clawhammer is very interesting.
    Adam is one of the most genuine individuals, musically, as well as personally that I’ve encountered. Another individual like that is Rachel Eddy.

    What I’ve learned from watching the hours and hours of music that refocused its presence to the Internet over the last year is that some great players can teach, and some cannot. The same goes for performance. Some people don’t translate well to the small screen. Their presence is flattened by the camera. Others, like Adam, shine like beacons. Scroll through the Quarantine Happy Hour videos on YouTube. It is an interesting study of “presence” on display.

    I listened to part of Chris’ new album. In some ways it reminds me of his album “Deceiver”.
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  24. #42

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  25. #43
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    I love some of Thile’s early solo stuff, and the early Nickel Creek records are some of the best acoustic music I’ve ever heard. I guess my taste must be of the plainer sort, because the current wave of acoustic music seems to have left me behind (I didn’t even make it all the way through the promo to this new Thile record).

    It has always seemed to me that the burden is _fully_ on the artist to reach the audience, rather than the audience being expected to keep up. I rarely hear anything from the new crop of acoustic artists that I want to listen to a second time. The playing is technically brilliant, but the melody is so often missing to my ear. YMMV.

    I will contrast this with a recent record I happened upon: the 2017 T-Bone Burnett-produced “Jupiter Calling” by the Irish pop/folk group The Corrs. I’m probably on my 50th or so listen. It’s all very simple melodies with beautiful sister-harmonies and sparse instrumentation. It’s the kind of record where the songs are stuck in your head vs trying to remember what you just listened to. I wish I could find a lot more records like it.
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  26. #44
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Quote Originally Posted by Caleb View Post
    It has always seemed to me that the burden is _fully_ on the artist to reach the audience, rather than the audience being expected to keep up. I rarely hear anything from the new crop of acoustic artists that I want to listen to a second time. The playing is technically brilliant, but the melody is so often missing to my ear. YMMV.
    I agree for my own tastes. I think the artist has to follow their own muse and decide whether popularity is more important than their vision. Every artist is allowed to decide how challenging or accessible their music is. Personally, I also prefer not at all challenging. Gimme hooks and structure. The money quote I read decades ago was "Not all music is required to convince us we are not zombies"
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Quote Originally Posted by sgarrity View Post
    I'm a big fan but haven't been able to get all the way through it yet.
    I'm with ya, cd will go in storage box.

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  28. #46
    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    Quote Originally Posted by Mandobar View Post

    I listened to part of Chris’ new album. In some ways it reminds me of his album “Deceiver”.
    To take this thread in a slightly more positive direction, I too thought of “Deceiver” when I listened. Which was not an album I really liked or go back and listen to. BUT it did stretch Chris in new ways. I think it was a growth moment for him, and I like what he did after that. I think he had to get some stuff out and really move beyond that to accomplish something as wonderful as the Punch Brothers.

    And I know the Punch Brothers are not for everyone, but they have some epic material. They are truly beyond bluegrass. Some of the things they cover really enlightened me to other music out there, like “Another New World”. Their cover of “Heart in a Cage” by the Strokes is simply amazing! Cazadero and O Santo de Polvora are two of my favorites that have a more backwards looking appeal while also being jaw-droppingly good. Watch at Breakdown, Movement and Location, This Girl, Familiarity and My oh My (among others) were worth the journey through the years of following Chris.

    I just wanted to take a moment to say that I don’t expect to love everything Chris does, but it is really cool to watch him continue to grow.
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  29. #47
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    after the last year, they've all been solo instruments!

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  30. #48
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    I'm loving this album and it's getting better with each listen. For me it has the same kind of endearing intimacy that one would find say on a Chris Whitley album. There is some amazing moments of virtuosity but only in service to the song.
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    I had similar disconnect experiences with some great artists that I initially really liked. And please don't take this the wrong way and say I'm being overly critical. Music is art and sometimes the connection between artist and audience just doesn't happen.
    Back in my (much) younger days I listened to Al Dimeola, a brilliant guitarist, but somehow his music got above me. And that's fine, I'm sure many others continued to love his music. And I still listen to his earlier albums.
    Same could be said for two great banjo players I listened to, Tony Trischka and Larry McNeely. Great artists but maybe kinda went past my my musical IQ. Although I understand Tony is back in a more traditional bluegrass mode.
    I could say the same about Duke Ellington. Love some stuff (The Great Paris Concert - live 1963 maybe ?). Later recordings not very much. Musical genius without a doubt. So maybe some of that is on me and my limited musical IQ. I get it and accept it.
    I haven't listened to Thile's latest venture because quite honestly I'm more traditional in my tastes and I disconnected a while ago.
    But I'll never question a great musician when he pushes his boundaries. That's what great artists do.
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  32. #50
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    Default Re: New Chris Thile album

    I had similar disconnect experiences with some great artists that I initially really liked. And please don't take this the wrong way and say I'm being overly critical. Music is art and sometimes the connection between artist and audience just doesn't happen.
    Back in my (much) younger days I listened to Al Dimeola, a brilliant guitarist, but somehow his music got above me. And that's fine, I'm sure many others continued to love his music. And I still listen to his earlier albums.
    Same could be said for two great banjo players I listened to, Tony Trischka and Larry McNeely. Great artists but maybe kinda went past my my musical IQ. Although I understand Tony is back in a more traditional bluegrass mode.
    I could say the same about Duke Ellington. Love some stuff (The Great Paris Concert - live 1963 maybe ?). Later recordings not very much. Musical genius without a doubt.
    I haven't listened to Thile's latest venture because quite honestly I'm more traditional in my tastes and I disconnected a while ago.
    But I'll never question a great musician when he pushes his boundaries. That's what great artists do.
    Ratliff R5 2007, Capek A5 2003, Washburn M5S-SB Jethro Burns 1982, Mid-Mo M-2, Epiphone MM 30 Bk mandolins, Harmony Batwing 1970's, George Bauer bowlback early 1900's Philadelphia.


    "Don't cloud the issue with facts!" Groucho Marx

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