How to Grow a Woman From the Ground

by

Chris Thile

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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.

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.