Customer Reviews

Blood & Mood

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Livers have really taken their funky sound to a great new level...do not buy CD this if you're looking to kick back and relax with edgy, old-timey, tuba-thomping BL stuff from the past. Danny and Co. are taking their music to a wild new level here! I was confused at first, but not for long: I opened-up to the possibilities quickly and have come to love this CD. "Fist Magnet"? "Legend of Sawdust Booger"? "Death Trip"? ...OH YES! Danny & co have incorporated hip-hop drums, keyboards, computers and punky/funky beats into this new CD -- thank you Sugar Hill (write them for more detailed liner notes) for going with the flow! Go see the Bad Livers LIVE if you can (check out their website = BadLivers.Com = for tour dates); Danny and Mark came through Charlottesville last fall and we'll never be the same!

Being a Bad Livers fan is a strange thing. Every one of their records sound markedly dfferent from the last. There is the fascination with melding a kind of country with a kind of funk that binds all the records to some degree, but whenever you buy a new BL record, all bets are really off. You never know what you're going to get.

Well, "blood and mood" really treds a strange path... everything from hip-hop to hillbilly to ambient finds its way into the mix here. It's exciting to see a band making music like this... its shows they either have a great respect for their fans and believe that the fans will enjoy a challenge, or they have complete disregard for us. Either way, it's refreshing to hear a band consitently churn out high-quality, ecclectic records while "commercial" bands continually try to make record after record that sound the same. I don't like every bit of this CD... infact, I really only listen to about 60% of it regularly... so why the high rating? (a) they have balls, and I'll respect them for that. Even if I don't like everything, it's smart, well done and original. (b) there are at least 3 songs (esp. "love songs suck") that rival just about any song I've ever heard as far as pure pop craftsmanship goes.

Another wierd, knotty, and ultimately wonderful... I mean that literally... wonder-full record.

The Bad Livers' Blood &Mood isn't a background album. By background album I mean one of those records you put on and wash dishes too. Blood & Mood is a complex record that demands the listener's complete attention. "What the deal is is you're going to have to get over there and figure out what that's all about", the repeated loop that starts the album, could be applied to this release. Barnes and Rubin team up again with Lloyd Maines to produce this musical journey. The Bad Livers follow the same path they have been on - they create more untraditional music with traditional instruments. What the Livers have done is taken a touch of country ("The Legend of Sawdust Boogers"), a touch of folk ("Itty Bitty Town), and a touch of rock ("One More Night in a Hotel") added some banjo and tuba and then layered the songs with loops, samples and sequenced drums. The result is a sometimes harsh, sometimes sweet, dizzying display of musicianship. Each song challenges the listener to enter into it world and try to figure out how life there operates. If you are a music fan of any type, you should enjoy this album. If you are looking for something to play while you wash dishes, move on.

Blood and Mood is wacky, funny, musically engaging, and, above all, audacious. With it's tongue-in-cheek blend of hill billy and punk rock, this is a CD that made me laugh out loud on the first listen. Blood and Mood offers a wide pallet of music, from tender ballads (Little Bitty Town,) to flat-out punk rock material (complete with bandleader Danny Barnes ever-present banjo picking and high, nasally Texan singing). Of particular note is the Bill Frisell (jazz guitarist) influence in the guitar chord voicings of "Little Bitty Town." (Frisell and Barnes have been working together a lot lately.) This is a CD that will probably fall, unlistened, through the cracks between alternative rock and traditional acoustic music, but I love it. Five stars.

If you like straight ahead folk and bluegrass, you may as well just move right along. The Bad Livers play a weird variety of bluegrass, rock, and anything else that suits their fancy. You can give some of the songs on here stupid names like Hick Hop if you really want to.

For someone new to the Bad Livers, I'd suggest Industry and Thrift (my favorite), or Delusions of Banjer instead of this release. Those are more consistent releases, with Industry showing off the eclectic nature of the band, and Banjer having a more conventional acoustic sound (but twisted attitude). If you really enjoyed Industry, I'd say pick up this cd - it's got some songs that shouldn't be missed.

I gave this 3 stars mostly because it's short, and even being short, there's some stuff that seems mostly just filler. The songs that are good are 4-5 stars, there's just not a whole lot of 'em. There are a couple of good rocking songs, mixing bluegrass and country rock sounds and strong catchy choruses (like Fist Magnet). Little Bitty Town is a nice acoustic number about being stuck in a small town without much to do but drink and dream of leaving. However, for every good strong song, there's something weak to match it. And then there's Losing Again, a hardcore thrash song which is ok, but seems to be on here mostly just to show that they can rock if they want to. The song is decent, but it makes for a pretty jarring listening experience.

I like all kinds of music but this just sucks. I think most fans of bluegrass,country or roots music will not enjoy this.
If you don't like rap, hiphop, or dance music that's just a computer repeating the same annoying loop over and over.Then don't make the mistake of buying this peace of garbage. Like I said I like all kinds of music but when you program or talk (rap) and not sing you are not a musician but an artist, a b.s. artist, you had an idea but no talent or drive to learn to play an instument. I'm now going to take a hammer and smash this turd of a cd so it can not be resold to any other poor soul.
Ketchup and ice cream two things that do not good together.

An odd-ball entry to the Bad Livers catalog. I think that this release was a calculated move by them, kinda an upraised middle finger at everyone that whined that they weren't "traditional" enough on their more blue-grassy albums.

Still lots here to enjoy - it's interesting that of their albums, this one shows the most influence of their fellow-Austinite buddies the Butthole Surfers, even though it's one of the few where none of them were involved with the project. Several of the ambient-sound tracks that are between the actual songs are reminiscent of "Locust Abortion Technician" era Surfers.

Highlights are "Love Songs Suck", "Fist Magnet" and "Losing Again", the last of which benefits from some cool steel guitar by guest Lloyd Maines.

As other reviewers have mentioned, if you're just now getting into the Livers, you may want to pick up "Delusions of Banjer" or "Hogs in the Highway" first, and come back to this `un. Also recommended is Danny Barnes post-Livers output with "The Old Codgers" and Rubin's with the "Bing Bang Boys". Both releases are more in the acoustic/folkie category....

how can you not love this CD? When I got it, it was like a lightning from the blue sky! I listened to it daily for months and could not get enough of it. If you are a bluegrass purist, you are gonna hate it, but if you love mind-bending stuff, there is nothing better that I know of.....

danny "blood" barnes & mark "mood" rubin trade in their string ties for a set of leather manacles. the results will make you itchy. the duet with jules asner is particularly disturbing.

I'll try to be brief: I've been a huge Liver's fan for years. . . I own all of their studio material (until Blood and Mood)and have seen them live. Unfortunately, the new CD just doesn't do it for me. . . at all. Yes, I'm all for evolving, growing, and moving forward; however, there's too much other great music out there for me to listen to, buy, and to spend my money, time, and attention on this stuff. I'm out. Hey, they created it, put it out there for public consumption: I, therefore, deserve the right to critique it. I can honestly say that I wouldn't take this CD if it were a gift. I'll never ever listen to it again.