Posted on: April 24, 2013 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

I Started To Live When My Barber Died is the initial offering on Grubbs’ similarly-named title, and it immediately hits listeners with a frantic and dense arrangement. Grubbs comes off as a more polished Steve Lieberman, a hectic mélange of different elements and styles that will immediately draw attention. Ornamental Hermit is a track that slows things down to provide a complex set of arrangements that are extraordinarily smooth. Grubbs crafts music on Plain Where The Palace Stood that has no easy referent. What issues forth on tracks like Super-Adequate or A View of the Mesa is something that has not been heard previously.

 

First Salutation has a tremendously dark and brooding sound that is full of distortion and tribal drumming. When additional instruments are added to the equation, the overall bent of the track changes considerably; Grubbs is able to do more with three minutes than most musicians can hope to do in the space of an album. The two other related tracks – Second Salutation and Third Salutation – provide different takes on the themes and emotions that are brought up during the introductory Salutation.

The album ends with Third Salutation, an effort that takes a double role. At first blush, it seems to be a track that puts an emphatic end to the album. However, there seems to be an underlying logic to the effort that may be where Grubbs will go on subsequent titles. Take a trip to Grubbs’ website on Drag City for the most up to date information about tour dates and releases.

Top Tracks: Plain Where The Palace Stood, I Started To Live When My Barber Died

Rating: 8.1/10

David Grubbs Plain Where The Palace Stood CD Review

David Grubbs Plain Where The Palace Stood CD Review / 2013 Drag City / 11 Tracks / http://www.dragcity.com/artists/david-grubbshomepage_large.341d4c51

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