Grex - Live at Home
Low density jazz-folk, dipping into psychedelic wanderings. Two person band (male & female) from Oakland pairs electric guitar with piano or flute or etc. Sparse vocals, quiet & spacey album in general, most tracks do not maintain a consistent form throughout. Neat experimental instrumentation considering all tracks (except #3) recorded live. No FCC ‘s.
My picks: 2, 6, 9
1) (1:05) Slow. Breathy and muted flute melody with sparse guitar, can easily stand alone despite labeling as “intro”
2) *(3:13) Mid. Piano & guitar echo each other with rising tempo and intensity. Neat deconstruction of meter mid-song. Vocals only on last 30sec.
3) (4:11) Slow-mid. Looping piano melody overlaid with wandering electric guitar devolves into atonal electric organ chords on top of dissonant guitar riffs. Short vocals in middle of song.
4) (5:25) Slow –mid. Very quiet lead in to :25. Piano loops same conjunct melody with flute, rain-stick sounds. Mostly a relaxing enya-esque song, but an uneasy guitar drifting in and out.
5) (5:39) Mid. A familiar classical riff underscores psychedelic jam-band-style wanderings of this track – just piano and guitar with a few brief verses of oblique harmonies.
6) *(3:25) Mid. An electric version of the classic jazz song of same title, large dynamic swings.
7) (4:21) Slow –mid. Psychedelic flute leads-in to a relatively contained electric guitar lead; scratching, squeaky toys and syncopated rattles provide rhythm.
8) (4:00) Slow. Female vocals - smooth jazz piano and a few surprise guitar entrances that still leave a lot of space.
9) *(7:27) Slow-mid. Most vocal-heavy track on album with breathy harmonies and increased density – quote Bloodhound Gang’s “the roof is on fire” leading into a Hendrix-style wandering guitar solo.
10) (2:31) Slow. Instrumental cover of Lou Reed’s “perfect day” with a short tribute to Star Wars’ theme song snuck in.