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Album Details

• Artist: David Grubbs
• Album: A Guess At The Riddle
• Label: Fat Cat
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-09-14

Whether people know it or not, David Grubbs was very influential in the way that alternative music has turned out. Back in the day, Grubbs was a member of Squirrel Bait as well as the very influential, albeit uncommercial, Gastr del Sol. A Guess At The Riddle is approximately his 10th solo album in less than a decade making him one of the more prolific songwriters in alternative music today. He is working with a collaborator of the past, Rick Moody. Grubbs and Moody are totally capable of writing some of the most captivating alt.rock/folk music today. There isn't much to their arrangements but David's voice mixed with the stripped down electric guitar just makes for interesting listening. The album starts out rather gently with "Knight Errant", one of the best tracks on the album. On "A Cold Apple" he gets a little rowdier on but not too crazy. "Wave Generators" was penned by Rick and it is, too, one of the best tracks on Riddle. We get a bit of shuffle going on "Magnificent As Such", a track that incorporates a bit of a string element to it. On "Your Neck Of The Woods" David is sounding like a stripped down Rufus Wainwright without the flamboyance. My favorite track comes on the upbeat and bright "Pangolin". Usually I don't like empty space at the end of the album but Grubbs makes it work with "Coda (Breathing)". Empty space that is totally atmospheric. A Guess At The Riddle isn't an album that will turn around alternative music but it is a respectable one from a respectable player.

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