Customer Reviews

How to Grow a Woman From the Ground

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Think of all the bluegrass child prodigies that have crossed genres to create amazing music--Marty Stuart, Mark O'Connor, Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss. Now consider Chris Thile, who is on the verge of blowing them all away. This record is, perhaps, the finest "rock" album played on bluegrass instruments ever made. It's all here: impeccable musicianship, smart arrangements, bluegrass, jazz, a White Stripes tune, bla, bla, bla. This kid is growing fast, he has outgrown the grass, he has outgrown the wonderful Nickel Creek, there's no telling where he's gonna take this thing (Ornette Coleman?? Nicaraguan mountain music??) but I'd suggest you hop on right here and stay along for the ride.

Even with the offensive F-bomb, and a couple songs that are ever so slightly boring... even at the risk of giving a bigger head to a "lost himself in stardom" young star; I simply cannot give this album anything less than 5 stars. I've been listening to quite a few greats like Grisman and Marshall and though they certainly deserve heaps of props, I sincerely believe that Chris is simply the best mandolin player ever. Not only that, he has uncanny prowess for composition and improvisation, the likes of which are virtually unequalled.

Listening to his music, one can tell that Chris grew bored of traditional music boundaries fairly early in his career. His yearning to keep himself interested, combined with the usual follies of youth are clearly manifest in his most recent albums. It is difficult to participate as somebody fumbles around trying to find themselves; and Chris has had no qualms about sharing this tumultuous emotional journey with his listeners. The lyrics of "How to Grow a Woman..." are perhaps more innocuous than those of Deceiver, but still portray a tormented Thile. It is for this reason that I prefer his instrumental tracks. Lyrics aside, however, I must also confess to liking his well architected vocal harmonies.

If you are a top 40s music listener, you may not fully appreciate this music. It is rich and layered, and requires some conditioning; similar to what is necessary to appreciate Jazz or Classical. On the other hand, if you already like Bluegrass, Newgrass, Dawg, Folk, or acoustic music, you will probably like, no, let's say love this album.

If you don't have any Chris Thile albums, I would recommend starting with Not All Who Wander Are Lost. If you like more traditional stuff, head toward his younger albums, which are absolutely amazing coming from a musician at any age.

In the end, the world needs more music of this quality, so how could I possibly discount stars? Chris, kudos; now find yourself and keep the good stuff flowing!

To be blunt, I haven't particularly cared for Thile's recent, not-quite-successful synthesis of jazz, bluegrass, folk and alt/indie rock. I was excited to hear that Chris was trying to get back to his roots with this album, but am slightly disappointed with the net results. The reintroduction of the banjo, fiddle and upright bass, as well as the integration of more traditional tempos and melodies establishes that unmistakable bluegrass sound. However, this album lacks the grace and charm of Chris' work previous to the release of "Deciever". In my opinion, the drop in quality since "All Who Wander Are Not Lost" (NAWWAL) is due solely to Chris' new-found penchant for edgy, supposed-to-be deep lyricism. While the musicianship on this album is as good as it gets, and the song-craft is solid, I find that I find myself quickly annoyed with the psuedo-intellectual, self-involved tendencies embodied by the poetry. For whatever reason Chris has become enamored with the trendy "l'esprit" of the alt/indie rock scene, perhaps because it embodies all of the things he wanted to be, but never was, while growing up (i.e. cool, urban, hip, sarcastic, cutting edge, ansgty, controversial, ironic, etc). Personally, I think Chris' genius is confined to instrumentalism and song-craft. I enjoyed his forrays into jazz and classical musicianship on NAWWAL and believe that this is where he shines (by the way, The Beekeeper is my favorite song on this album). Vocally he has evolved a brash and confrontational style which comes off as grating to my sensabilities, and as a lyricist he has consistently disappointed me with an immaturity of content (though, apparently he has not disappointed others). To be fair, this work is five steps in the right direction since the release of "Deciever". While I am not overly impressed with this effort, I do recognize that many other people (including Chris) seem find it suitable enough. Like I said, its not really my cup of tea, but it will be interesting to see what Chris has in store for the future.

Mandolin prodigy Chris Thile's last album, Deceiver, was a little off-kilter. He sang with himself and played every instrument on the album. What resulted was an almost private lyric in an unhappy marriage with merely average instrumentation (aside from the mandolin and a few other bright spots).

Deceiver is an illustration of Donne's axiom, "No man is an island, entire of itself," along with its lesser-known corollary, "so suck it up and get a band." How to Grow a Woman from the Ground provides the proof, QED.

Here, Thile is content to be first among equals. His emotional vision is intact, but he's brought in musicians to rival and even surpass the lyrics. With several covers and instrumentals, Thile is not a one-man show. He often takes a back seat to the awe-inspiring play of his bluegrass bandmates, and blends into the background on some great harmony singing.

I find it very difficult to single out songs for individual praise. I'm a fan of Wayside, The Beekeeper, and Heart in a Cage, but you'll have to choose your own. It's Thile's most complete album to date, and better yet, it sounds fun where Deceiver was merely earnest.

You'll listen to it over and over again.

It is very obvious to me after reading all of the reviews that no one is aware that The Strokes wrote "Heart in a Cage". If Thile is going to cover their song, its not a crime to use the lyrics that were written by the original artist. People are entitled to their own prefrences, but it is asinine to proclaim that he wanted to "appear tough" or to be "taken more seriously" and that people should not buy this album because of it. Grow up huh?

Who is a musical expert? I don't have a degree. I've just been listening to music for some 35 years now. Folk, rock, bluegrass, jazz...it doesn't take talent to listen. But I think I can hear talent, creativity, and originality by now. If I'm right about that, you folks using the word "mediocre" better look it up. "Of moderate or low quality" is really your impression of this album? Forget the material, this album is played at a level equivalent to professional symphony orchestras and Broadway pit musicians. If you've seen them, these guys stand around on stage talking about how many beats per minute they should play the next tune at.

But let's look at material here. It's not just that the influences are diverse. What is brilliant is that diverse material is brought together by a unifying approach to composition and performance that expresses a unique vision. In the process, true relationships between the genres are exposed for the listener to dig. If you are too worried about the f-bombs to hear that, or too worried about where this stands compared with other music you like, then maybe this is where you and the artist part company. For me, there is no invalid criteria for judging whether or not you like a piece of music. But give Chris Thile credit for this: the man does not pander. He's going someplace and he's not worried about whether the people who liked the last album, or his pervious bands, come with.

This album is another success from one of the world's greatest mandolin players. He has chosen an eclectic array of songs to create an album that hits at almost every emotion. The musicianship is inarguably topnotch, which only compliments the song writing and various covers.

As long as I have listened to Nickel Creek I have found only one constant in the musical stylings of Chris Thile... there is no constant. He has dipped into seemingly every genre of music. If it is unwavering clean traditional bluegrass you are looking for, you will likely need to start looking other places than Chris Thile.

To be honest what is most concerning to me is how much controversy one swear word brought to the album. Many who would have given the album 4 or even 5 stars ended up giving it 1 or 2. Somehow it brought up the question of the tightrope musicians are forced to walk between pleasing fans and doing what they wish to do. Musicians know, better than anyone, that they will never please everyone. That aside, I am simply dumbfounded that it caused such an issue. There are 13 other tracks without a swear word, even logistically it is absurd. He wasn't promoting a religious or political ideal. He wasn't spewing hate or anger. He simply covered a Strokes song that says `f***ing'.

If it really is that big of an issue, you must be locked in a cabin, because this country has drastically bigger issues. Focus on what the music does for you. Let it be an escape from the routine and try to be more accepting. There are amazing songs written in almost every style of music, Thile understands this. I think he also understands that swear words are not necessarily malicious. Thile has the ability to bridge the gap between those who love traditional bluegrass, and those who seek more.

One review said "I'll probably never buy another Thile or Nickel Creek CD because of this. Hopefully, using this word was worth it for him". I personally wouldn't even want fans that boycotted me after a single word. Trust me, for every one person that was offended by the word, 50 were not.

Saw the How to Grow a Band at the old staple, the Belcourt Theatre here in Nashville the week that the album came out, and since I'm in the press, I had been listening to the disc for 2 months already. I really truly love this album. One reviewer complained about the long pauses in the middle of songs adn Chris being too far from the mic sometimes. For me, those were good things. I LOVE dynamics and contrast, two things sorely lacking in most music today. HTGAWFTG is full of both. It feels like a classic album with modern content.
I feel lucky to have seen this group perform together live. It's like they've been playing as a band for 20-30 years, but I doubt any of them are even 30 years old. Overwhelming talent combined with exacting coordination and a refreshing creative edge in lyrics, playing and performing for the crowd resulted in one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life. The stuff that you hear on this CD is the real deal. If anything, they were more proficient and precise live than on the CD. There are no overdubs or pitch-correcting changes or even extra musicians in the room. This is 4 guys pushing what it means to be bluegrass and what it means to be a prodigy.

Chris Thile is an unreal talent, and as is common of most in his shoes, likes to change things up often. This CD contains elements of straightahead traditional bluegrass, newgrass, exploratory acoustic jazz and more contemporary acoustic pop in the Nickel Creek vein. There are a few common elements; the production is barebones and edgy. This is probably a reaction to the velvelty production of Nickel Creek. Virtuoso playing is required. HTGB is full of young hot players that can go just about anywhere they want with their instruments. Thile was approaching pop sex symbol territory with Creek and this CD shows he wants to keep the focus on the music.

Last but not least, every song on the CD is great! Regardless of style, instrumental or vocal, every song cooks. "Watch at Breakdown" sets the tone with a blistering intro that never lets up. "Stay Away" is a gut wrenching but beautiful ballad and "Beekeeper" is a genre defying instrumental that touches on jazz, bluegrass and classical influences. Just for good measure, "Brakemans Blues" shows that these guys know how to play straight up traditional 'grass, at high RPM's of course.

Who knows what may come next from Thile but this CD gives you a glimpse of many possible paths, and they all sound good to me.

Are you kidding me? If you like good music, do yourself a favor and buy this album...and every other anything that Chris Thile has had anything to do with musically. Yes, that's a lot of music. DO IT ANYWAY! If you have an open mind, and tend to know good music when you hear it, get his Deceiver album. It will make you feel like you've discovered another wonder of the world...or the cure to a disease. Turns out it's just music, but it feels like something else...something more.

This isn't good music. This is the best music. Seriously. It will make your heart full, be prepared. Know ahead of time the possible symptoms so you don't mistake them for a medical condition. You will perceive a swelling in your chest, kind of an ache...but the best possible kind. Your body may move uncontrollably. Do not be afraid, these are common side-affects and should be embraced.

To know this music is to love it. If you know it and don't love it, I have nothing to say to you. Go away!