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Sneer · 12-01-2009, 11:05 AM

Dr John

Gris Gris

I stumbled upon this album purely by accident, i was blog searching for a folk band called Gris Gris and this came up instead. Enticed enough to download it, i was immediately swept up in the mystical, ritualistic sounds creeping into my ears.

I say ritualistic because it sounds like the soundtrack to some esoteric voodoo ceremony, replete with eerie, ethereal melodies carried upon flutes, mandolins, saxophones and strange chanting. Listening to this is maybe the closest i can get to an out of body experience whilst conscious.

Musically it is a hybrid of rhythm & blues and psychedelia, punctuated frequently with various world music influences ranging from balkan to flamenco. It all has this smokey, demure mystique to it - seedy in a sense without sacrificing any of the beauty.

The variation between songs is also impressive. Danse Kalinda Ba Doom for example sounds like it's come straight from a rambunctious night of hedonism in a gypsy commune, whilst converssely Jump Sturdy clearly owes a lot to the black slaves of American past as it swaggers with blues and soul. Despite this variation, the album succeeds in flowing into this phantasmagoria of sound, consequently becoming 30 odd minutes of some of the most interesting, refreshingly strange music i've ever heard.

12-01-2009, 11:05 AM	#125 (permalink)
Sneer Let it drip Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 5,430	Dr John Gris Gris I stumbled upon this album purely by accident, i was blog searching for a folk band called Gris Gris and this came up instead. Enticed enough to download it, i was immediately swept up in the mystical, ritualistic sounds creeping into my ears. I say ritualistic because it sounds like the soundtrack to some esoteric voodoo ceremony, replete with eerie, ethereal melodies carried upon flutes, mandolins, saxophones and strange chanting. Listening to this is maybe the closest i can get to an out of body experience whilst conscious. Musically it is a hybrid of rhythm & blues and psychedelia, punctuated frequently with various world music influences ranging from balkan to flamenco. It all has this smokey, demure mystique to it - seedy in a sense without sacrificing any of the beauty. The variation between songs is also impressive. Danse Kalinda Ba Doom for example sounds like it's come straight from a rambunctious night of hedonism in a gypsy commune, whilst converssely Jump Sturdy clearly owes a lot to the black slaves of American past as it swaggers with blues and soul. Despite this variation, the album succeeds in flowing into this phantasmagoria of sound, consequently becoming 30 odd minutes of some of the most interesting, refreshingly strange music i've ever heard. __________________ LastFM Sneer's Emporium of Sound Fright Team radio show Last edited by Sneer; 12-02-2009 at 07:53 PM.