30-01-2018, 09:58
CHRIS THILE ~ Thanks for Listening
![[Image: R-11309592-1513924142-8855.jpeg.jpg]](https://img.discogs.com/XvCNkbzqI9EVSfbpyAp2vRZZswM=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-11309592-1513924142-8855.jpeg.jpg)
This is an elegant offering IMHO – when is a new album not new anymore? Anyone? This is a mid-December 2017 release that I missed.
Chris Thile is a virtuoso mandolinist and the host of the radio variety show previously known as ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ – now ‘Live From Here’. He’s also in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers, as well as having seven solo albums to his credit. It’s here as closer to country and folk than anything else, but could just as easily be filed under ‘alternative’.
The premise for Thanks for Listening, or concept, if you prefer, is ten ‘songs of the week’ which were written for and premiered on the aforementioned show and which all speak to listening in one way or another. This quote from Nonesuch – "The album pivoted away from the show and toward the listeners—and not just to the listeners of Prairie Home but to anyone who listens to things. They are my heroes—people who listen. I find myself all too often on the other side of the conversation, talking about what I'm doing. It's hard to maintain focus or give something enough attention to appreciate it. We're in a place where listening is a precious commodity. That's the theme that I noticed rising up, greater than 'here is what was happening last week' or 'here is the place we were.' It's a celebration of people who haven't switched off, despite being given every reason to do so." http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/chris-th...2017-12-15
Thile is responsible for all strings aside from bass and viola and is accompanied by guest vocalists Aoife O’Donovan, Gaby Moreno and Sarah Jarosz on three tracks. His work is referred to as progressive acoustic/progressive bluegrass – there’s a little touch of cabaret here and there and even some frothy, tongue-in-cheek pop on “Falsetto”, for example, which is impossible not to like. (Not the album version, but it will have to do … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNyQdt8XKow). There’s no particular packaging to fit this gentleman (which is probably why he's a good choice for a variety type show) - he’s pithy, makes quite a lot of clever socio political commentary, and delivers all of it in a way that I can only describe as being luminous, all while never taking himself too seriously. I want to listen again, and would need to in order to properly absorb what he's saying, and that’s precisely the point.
There seems to be a dearth of clips on YT, so I’m posting what there is – this is “Elephant in the Room” which is a comic take on family gatherings and such – he’s used Thanksgiving in this instance … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L56E6j3B3Hg
“Thank You, New York” with guest artist Gaby Moreno …
This is an elegant offering IMHO – when is a new album not new anymore? Anyone? This is a mid-December 2017 release that I missed.
Chris Thile is a virtuoso mandolinist and the host of the radio variety show previously known as ‘A Prairie Home Companion’ – now ‘Live From Here’. He’s also in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive bluegrass quintet Punch Brothers, as well as having seven solo albums to his credit. It’s here as closer to country and folk than anything else, but could just as easily be filed under ‘alternative’.
The premise for Thanks for Listening, or concept, if you prefer, is ten ‘songs of the week’ which were written for and premiered on the aforementioned show and which all speak to listening in one way or another. This quote from Nonesuch – "The album pivoted away from the show and toward the listeners—and not just to the listeners of Prairie Home but to anyone who listens to things. They are my heroes—people who listen. I find myself all too often on the other side of the conversation, talking about what I'm doing. It's hard to maintain focus or give something enough attention to appreciate it. We're in a place where listening is a precious commodity. That's the theme that I noticed rising up, greater than 'here is what was happening last week' or 'here is the place we were.' It's a celebration of people who haven't switched off, despite being given every reason to do so." http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/chris-th...2017-12-15
Thile is responsible for all strings aside from bass and viola and is accompanied by guest vocalists Aoife O’Donovan, Gaby Moreno and Sarah Jarosz on three tracks. His work is referred to as progressive acoustic/progressive bluegrass – there’s a little touch of cabaret here and there and even some frothy, tongue-in-cheek pop on “Falsetto”, for example, which is impossible not to like. (Not the album version, but it will have to do … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNyQdt8XKow). There’s no particular packaging to fit this gentleman (which is probably why he's a good choice for a variety type show) - he’s pithy, makes quite a lot of clever socio political commentary, and delivers all of it in a way that I can only describe as being luminous, all while never taking himself too seriously. I want to listen again, and would need to in order to properly absorb what he's saying, and that’s precisely the point.
There seems to be a dearth of clips on YT, so I’m posting what there is – this is “Elephant in the Room” which is a comic take on family gatherings and such – he’s used Thanksgiving in this instance … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L56E6j3B3Hg
“Thank You, New York” with guest artist Gaby Moreno …
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson