Don Yates wrote:
> All right, I finally got a chance to hear the GrooveGrass album (which is
> now being released by Warner Bros), and I have to say I'm underwhelmed.
> I'm open to odd musical fusions, but this attempt to fuse bluegrass and
> funk falls mostly flat. It just sounds like two disparate kinds of music
> were rammed together with no apparent purpose in mind. I've heard Chili
> Peppers ripoffs that were more funky, and it sure doesn't make for
> satisfying bluegrass either. Unimaginative beats, and a fella singin'
> (GrooveGrass creator Scott Rouse) who sounds like he should be frontin'
> some earnest '70s boogie-rock band. He's about as far from funky *and*
> high lonesome as you can get. Compare this album to Greg Garing's Alone,
> and you'll see how unimaginative and just plain lame this album is.
> Garing has the musical and vocal chops to get away with his audacious
> fusion of electronic dance music with country, bluegrass and rock.
> Despite the big names helping him out, Rouse just doesn't seem to have
> what it takes to pull it off.--don
So, you don't like it, is what you're saying? Sounds bad enough to me, being
no big fan of fusion stuff usually, but I'm not listening to Parlor James,
Old Dreams, which I just picked up. This is the future of alt. country.
Well, maybe not. But it is a very very interesting disc. Electronica (which
normally I loathe) mixed with banjer? And more weird shit. But it works.
At least so far.
