MOSES GUEST
''BEST LAID PLANS''
JULY 10 2007
61:54
1 Best Laid Plans 9:17
2 Bird 5:14
3 Colorado 10:30
4 Burnin' Around the Sun 4:29
5 Bi-Polar Express 3:10
6 Shine 5:43
7 NOLA 4:30
8 Mario, The Offender 6:49
9 Mario's Untimely End 4:42
10 Wheel 7:11
Tracks By Graham Guest, Except 4 By Graham Guest, Sean Simon
James Edwards /Drums
Graham Guest /Guitar (Classical), Guitar (Electric), Vocals
Jeremy Horton /Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric)
REVIEW
by Alex Henderson
It might seem like a contradiction when someone describes Moses Guest as the quintessential all-American Gen-X jam band. Jam bands, after all, were a product of the baby boom generation; Gen-X is supposed to be synonymous with alternative rock, hip-hop, and techno, not Jerry Garcia and the heyday of Haight-Ashbury. But Moses Guest are, in fact, one of the Gen-X bands that has proudly carried on the Grateful Dead/New Riders of the Purple Sage/Kingfish tradition in a post-Garcia world. They have done it with total sincerity rather than irony, and that approach continues to work well for them on Best Laid Plans. With this 2007 release, the Texas-based outfit serves up yet another dose of congenial, good-natured country-fried roots rock and maintains its loyalty to a time when the Grateful Dead, the New Riders, the Allman Brothers, and the Band were writing the book on the jam band aesthetic. Stylistically, this disc worships the '60s and '70s rather than the '90s or 2000s, and the members of Moses Guest wouldn't have it any other way. One of the things that jam bands do, of course, is jam; Moses Guest are no exception, which is why some of the songs on Best Laid Plans last nine or ten minutes. But while the album's longer tracks might scare away those who have painfully short attention spans, the bottom line is that, ultimately, Best Laid Plans is about songcraft -- and jamming is never seen as a substitute for good, quality songwriting. For Moses Guest, the jams are in service of the songs -- not the other way around. Best Laid Plans doesn't pretend to be cutting edge, but those who have enjoyed Moses Guest's previous releases will find it to be a worthwhile addition to their catalog.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jesse Jarnow The brainchild of frontman and primary songwriter Graham Guest, Moses Guest has been delivering straight-up Grateful Dead-influenced jam band music since their inception.
Coming together in 1995, the Texas-based Guest joined with bassist Sean Simon and drummer John Chupin. With Guest's anthemic folk-rock songwriter at the band's core, they soon recorded and released Geniality of Mortality, simultaneously launching the band's own record label, Aufheben Records. The band continued to tour (of course) and work up a regional following. The group refined a southern-fried sound with influences like Little Feat and jam band elders Widespread Panic.
Guest soon parted ways with Simon and Chupin, though, and plotted a slightly expanded lineup of the group, now featuring funk metal bassist Jeremy Horton, jazz drummer James Edwards, and former Beat Temple keyboardist/guitarist Rick Thompson. With this group, he recorded the energetic American Trailer Home Blues, which featured live cuts of "Right Down," "Sand," and "Fly," along with seven other studio cuts.
1998's Live Stages captured the band's sound through several extended improvisations, including the heartily hippie "Intro Jam," along with a cover popularized by the Grateful Dead, "I Know You Rider." In fact, Guest's guitar, covered with envelope filter, sounds remarkably similar to Jerry Garcia's throughout the disc. The music lacks the edge of the band's studio work, though, and often sounds too polished to be interesting. The band followed the disc's release with high-profile gigs on the H.O.R.D.E. tour, shows opening for Steve Miller, and a group featuring members of the Jerry Garcia Band.
The sprawling, meandering three-disc Arkansas or Bust documented a wide array of the group's music, stretching back through several years, instrumental configurations, and improvisations. Nearly on top of this release, the band also put out the poppy U 'n' Mi EP, aimed at college radio stations. The band continues to play clubs in their native Texas.
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP
''BEST LAID PLANS''
JULY 10 2007
61:54
1 Best Laid Plans 9:17
2 Bird 5:14
3 Colorado 10:30
4 Burnin' Around the Sun 4:29
5 Bi-Polar Express 3:10
6 Shine 5:43
7 NOLA 4:30
8 Mario, The Offender 6:49
9 Mario's Untimely End 4:42
10 Wheel 7:11
Tracks By Graham Guest, Except 4 By Graham Guest, Sean Simon
James Edwards /Drums
Graham Guest /Guitar (Classical), Guitar (Electric), Vocals
Jeremy Horton /Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric)
REVIEW
by Alex Henderson
It might seem like a contradiction when someone describes Moses Guest as the quintessential all-American Gen-X jam band. Jam bands, after all, were a product of the baby boom generation; Gen-X is supposed to be synonymous with alternative rock, hip-hop, and techno, not Jerry Garcia and the heyday of Haight-Ashbury. But Moses Guest are, in fact, one of the Gen-X bands that has proudly carried on the Grateful Dead/New Riders of the Purple Sage/Kingfish tradition in a post-Garcia world. They have done it with total sincerity rather than irony, and that approach continues to work well for them on Best Laid Plans. With this 2007 release, the Texas-based outfit serves up yet another dose of congenial, good-natured country-fried roots rock and maintains its loyalty to a time when the Grateful Dead, the New Riders, the Allman Brothers, and the Band were writing the book on the jam band aesthetic. Stylistically, this disc worships the '60s and '70s rather than the '90s or 2000s, and the members of Moses Guest wouldn't have it any other way. One of the things that jam bands do, of course, is jam; Moses Guest are no exception, which is why some of the songs on Best Laid Plans last nine or ten minutes. But while the album's longer tracks might scare away those who have painfully short attention spans, the bottom line is that, ultimately, Best Laid Plans is about songcraft -- and jamming is never seen as a substitute for good, quality songwriting. For Moses Guest, the jams are in service of the songs -- not the other way around. Best Laid Plans doesn't pretend to be cutting edge, but those who have enjoyed Moses Guest's previous releases will find it to be a worthwhile addition to their catalog.
BIOGRAPHY
by Jesse Jarnow The brainchild of frontman and primary songwriter Graham Guest, Moses Guest has been delivering straight-up Grateful Dead-influenced jam band music since their inception.
Coming together in 1995, the Texas-based Guest joined with bassist Sean Simon and drummer John Chupin. With Guest's anthemic folk-rock songwriter at the band's core, they soon recorded and released Geniality of Mortality, simultaneously launching the band's own record label, Aufheben Records. The band continued to tour (of course) and work up a regional following. The group refined a southern-fried sound with influences like Little Feat and jam band elders Widespread Panic.
Guest soon parted ways with Simon and Chupin, though, and plotted a slightly expanded lineup of the group, now featuring funk metal bassist Jeremy Horton, jazz drummer James Edwards, and former Beat Temple keyboardist/guitarist Rick Thompson. With this group, he recorded the energetic American Trailer Home Blues, which featured live cuts of "Right Down," "Sand," and "Fly," along with seven other studio cuts.
1998's Live Stages captured the band's sound through several extended improvisations, including the heartily hippie "Intro Jam," along with a cover popularized by the Grateful Dead, "I Know You Rider." In fact, Guest's guitar, covered with envelope filter, sounds remarkably similar to Jerry Garcia's throughout the disc. The music lacks the edge of the band's studio work, though, and often sounds too polished to be interesting. The band followed the disc's release with high-profile gigs on the H.O.R.D.E. tour, shows opening for Steve Miller, and a group featuring members of the Jerry Garcia Band.
The sprawling, meandering three-disc Arkansas or Bust documented a wide array of the group's music, stretching back through several years, instrumental configurations, and improvisations. Nearly on top of this release, the band also put out the poppy U 'n' Mi EP, aimed at college radio stations. The band continues to play clubs in their native Texas.
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP
No comments :
Post a Comment