Browse by Artist: GRAILS

Artist:	GRAILS
Title:	Black Tar Prophecies Vol's 1,2, & 3
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 105CD

"The collected Black Tar Prophecies ends up being a more idiosyncratic mission statement for future Grails recordings, revealing their fondness for the groundfloor '60s and '70s experimental artists that saw music as a process of discovery as opposed to the pre-conceived, pre-parametered, commodified sport that underground music has become. A parallel is now forming between Grails and old-school experimental bands like Faust who, rejecting their past, started over from the beginning to build new languages in music. Grails' third full length recording, and first full-length since leaving Neurosis' label Neurot, is The Black Tar Prophecies. Seven of these nine tracks from this full length were released in small highly sought-after pressings of 12" vinyl on two European labels. The Black Tar Prophecies is a massive evolutionary step in the established Grails sound and it is shrouded in change and pain. The somewhat clinical studio sound and recording style which has established them a tremendous following has been replaced with a much more free and conceptual recording style. This method liberated the group in the studio and these recordings feel much more open, heavy and for lack of a better term, 'psychedelic.' We're not talking about the cliché co-opted psychedelic fashion, but psychedelia as a reckless embrace of new states of mind and possibilities."

Artist:	GRAILS
Title:	Black Tar Prophecies Vol's 1, 2 & 3
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 105LP

"LP version of Grails' pivotal 2006 release Black Tar Prophecies 1,2,3. Released to coincide with the debut of Black Tar Prophecies 4 being released simultaneously on Important Records. Cut and pressed at RTI for maximum fidelity. Heavy duty tip-on gatefold jackets by Stoughton. At the start of 2005 Grails returned to the U.S. from a month long European tour. Stepping off the plane, most of the band walked in one direction and the violinist strayed off in another. It ended up being the last time most anyone would see or talk to him. A bandmate of three records and five years had vanished only to exist in the form of vague rumors (violin hocked for petty cash, living on the streets, etc.). As the varied reports of brief encounters and sightings grew stranger and darker, the band started a series of recordings called Black Tar Prophecies. The remaining members had particular dissatisfactions with how the band had been grouped into the innocuous contemporary 'post-rock' movement. This frustration, combined with newly liberated instrumental roles, introduced new possibilities for the band's sound. In this way the collected Black Tar Prophecies ends up being a more idiosyncratic mission statement for future Grails recordings, revealing their fondness for the ground floor '60s and '70s experimental artists that saw music as a process of discovery as opposed to the pre-conceived, pre-parametered, commodified sport that underground music has become. A parallel is now forming between Grails and old-school experimental bands like Faust who, rejecting their past, started over from the beginning to build new languages in music. Grails' third full length recording, and first full length since leaving Neurosis' label Neurot, is The Black Tar Prophecies. Seven of the nine tracks from this full length were released in small, highly sought after pressings of 12" vinyl on two European labels. Important is proud to release The Black Tar Prophecies in its complete form, including two tracks not available on the vinyl releases. The Black Tar Prophecies is a massive evolutionary step in the established Grails sound and it is shrouded in change and pain. The somewhat clinical studio sound and recording style which has established them a tremendous following has been replaced with a much more free and conceptual recording style. This method liberated the group in the studio and these recordings feel much more open, heavy and for lack of a better term 'psychedelic.' We're not talking about the cliché co-opted psychedelic fashion, but psychedelia as a reckless embrace of new states of mind and possibilities. This sound has always existed within a Grails song but now it has been heavily pushed to the foreground. Perhaps even more eloquently and simply stated, Black Tar Prophecies 1, 2, & 3 is their best record yet."

Artist:	GRAILS
Title:	Take Refuge In Clean Living
Label:	IMPORTANT RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.00
Catalog #:	IMPREC 190CD

"Opening with a nod to Syd Barret's Pink Floyd (Piper at the Gates of Dawn) Take Refuge In Clean Living begins with morse code and drops into one of the heaviest slow-burn grooves in the Grails canon. Sounding something like Hawkwind and Ravi Shankar scoring Blade Runner, it's lysergic and earthy for Grails in a new way. The rest of the record moves from blissful Eno-inspired ambience, to epic Morricone rock hymns, to an unexpected take on a Ventures tune that returns the listener back to the very beginnings of instrumental rock music. Take Refuge in Clean Living sees Grails pulling back their already-wide lens on multiple sonic horizons. Grails often take what seems like would sound over-ambitious on paper and make it flow sonically in a laid-back style. The band is defined by exploration and they've created a template for themselves where any style or method can be ingested to reap legitimate rewards. Take Refuge seems to suggest that Grails can't run out of ideas."

Artist:	GRAILS
Title:	Burning Off Impurities
Label:	TEMPORARY RESIDENCE LIMITED
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.50
Catalog #:	TRR 118CD

"Following soon after the critically-praised Black Tar Prophecies collection on Important Records, Portland, Oregon's Grails return with their first proper studio album since 2004's release of Redlight. Burning Off Impurities -- their debut for Temporary Residence Ltd. -- makes good on the promise of those past releases in delivering an album that not only thrusts the group to new heights, but also pushes the instrumental rock genre forward for the first time in nearly a decade. An increased interest in psychedelic, ambient and world musics is most likely to blame for Grails' exploration of the lesser-traveled paths of modern music. Influenced in equal parts by Ash Ra Tempel, Erkin Koray, Popol Vuh, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and dozens others, this is very likely the closest Grails will ever get to making a classic rock record; the kind of sprawling masterpiece that you savor for years before passing it on to your younger brother so he can repeat the process."

Artist:	GRAILS
Title:	Burning Off Impurities
Label:	TEMPORARY RESIDENCE LIMITED
Format:	2LP
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	TRR 118LP

Double LP version. "Pushes the instrumental rock genre forward for the first time in nearly a decade. An increased interest in psychedelic, ambient and world musics is most likely to blame for Grails' exploration of the lesser-traveled paths of modern music. Influenced in equal parts by Ash Ra Tempel, Erkin Koray, Popol Vuh, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and dozens others, this is very likely the closest Grails will ever get to making a classic rock record; the kind of sprawling masterpiece that you savor for years before passing it on to your younger brother so he can repeat the process."

Artist:	GRAILS
Title:	Doomsdayer's Holiday
Label:	TEMPORARY RESIDENCE LIMITED
Format:	LP
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	TRR 144LP

Deluxe 180 gram vinyl version with full color glossy innersleeve. "Following up last year's Burning Off Impurities and their recent Take Refuge In Clean Living EP, Grails return with their darkest, heaviest record yet. Written and recorded over the last 18 months, Doomsdayer's Holiday delivers on the promises made by their previous albums, taking equal pride in smoky psychedelics and mountain-ascending riffs. With Faust, Earth and Sunn O))) collaborators acting as engineers -- not to mention drummer Emil Amos having recently become the new other half of Om -- Grails' avant-metal leanings are evident as always. But Doomsdayer's Holiday finds their already-broad palette continually expanding with '70s European film noir and cosmic free jazz explorations complimenting the Middle Eastern psychedelic folk-metal the group is already known for. After a wildly prolific three-year streak that saw the band ceaselessly pushing forward, Grails have finally made an album that pushes back."

Artist:	GRAILS
Title:	Acid Rain
Label:	TEMPORARY RESIDENCE LIMITED
Format:	DVD
Price:	$17.00
Catalog #:	TRR 147DVD

"Following up their widely acclaimed and most successful album, Doomsdayer's Holiday, Grails unleash their first-ever DVD, the career-spanning Acid Rain. Centered around a half dozen mind-altering music videos from their last few albums, Acid Rain also features nearly two hours of live shows from the past several years. Packed full of bonus material and special treats, Acid Rain is as bizarre, eclectic and otherworldly as their albums, with the added spectacle of debaucherous activities, vicarious cult obsessions, and street preachers on roller skates." NTSC format, region free.

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