30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
A vibrant parade of evocative and masterfully played classical grass,
March 3, 2008 Kim A Miller (Windsor, CT United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Punch (Audio CD)
Imagine this scenario, because this is what you may feel like during your first few times listening to this masterpiece.
You are part of a moving audience on a barge on a river floating past dozens of the best string bands ever formed.
Each band plays a different form: bluegrass, new grass, classical grass, Stravinsky, Mozart, chamber music, toe tapping, melancholic.
You hear something you really love and you want to stop. But the barge keeps moving.
There will be many for whom this experience is too strange to really get it.
But this band is so totally amazing and the playing is so good, you should not want to miss it.
Once you get to the 7th or 8th time through, and listen to the lyrics more carefully, you will begin to see the logic, the classical structure, the repetition of themes. The composer moves between mourning and hope and the music follows the emotion.
One thing that is consistent in the album is...Read more
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Bluejazz,
March 5, 2008 Brian A. Unger "acoustic fanatic" (Montebello, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Punch (Audio CD)
I just saw The Punch Brothers at the Troubadour in Hollywood Feb 28. They played most of this CD. I was totally knocked out by the virtuosity of each member. The music is incredibly complex, but that did not get in the way of it being a helluva lot of fun to listen to and tap a toe to. These guys are exploding the boundaries of acoustic music. On one tune, I felt like I could have been in a small cafe in Paris, listening to acoustic jazz. Then off to a rip roaring hoedown in Nashville in the next piece. Lightning fast licks, and stop on a dime precision. Chris Thile should be a major pop star. He has the look, is able to engage in witty banter with the audience, has an incredible singing voice, and is probably the greatest mandolin player of all time. Yikes.
57 of 73 people found the following review helpful
Over my head,
March 27, 2008 McDizzle (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Punch (Audio CD)
I'll admit it, I'm the first to consider myself somewhat of a music snob. I appreciate music with substance. My favorite albums are the ones that I didn't like the first time around, but grew on me as I appreciated the subtleties and nuances that tied them together.
I didn't like this album on first listen. It's certainly filled with enough subtlety and nuance, but after a few spins, it's not growing on me. I've listened to enough Nickel Creek and Thile's solo albums to appreciate Thile's skill at venturing out to the fringes of popular music generes, and bringing back with him interesting and surprising takes on music, but I think he may have ventured too far for most on this one.
The problem lies in his reliance on atonal music. It's very abstract-- it lacks context and is seemingly aimless wandering up and down the fretboard; the instruments all seem to be playing different songs. A great example of this is the first two minutes or so of Blind Leaving the...Read more
(33 customer reviews)