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Garaj Mahal's latest album marks the first time I have ever heard any studio work from this band. To be honest, the studio album does not live up to the performance Garaj gave a few nights ago. It's good, but the show was much better.
As with the live show, there are a number of musical influences throughout the songs -- Zdecko, hip-hop, Indian ragas, blues, 70s rock. The entire disc is musically accomplished, but it just doesn't feel as charged as the live show did. I do know that this is an unfair comparison, but it's still what I think and feel.
The disc opens up with an interesting bass lick from bassist Kai Eckhardt and then goes into an interesting 2 bar groove. While the groove is actually in 4/4, it feels more like a 7/8 measure attached to a 9/8 measure, resulting in a rather interesting feel. The next tune (Hindi Gumbo) lays down a Cajun/Zdecko shuffle and drops a very Indian guitar line over top of it. It comes together rather well. Junckt calls to mind a darkened heroin den of the late 1800's, with men in suits reclining on red cushions, smoking a hookah. Poodle Factory uses a 6/4 groove during the chorus quite effectively; it's a good counterbalance to the lyrics. The last three cuts on the disc are all very mellow, but didn't particularly resonate with me.
I think that if I were to buy any other of Garaj's albums, I would probably pick up one of their live ones.
Posted by Casper at February 1, 2004 04:43 PM