With an official release date just 10 days after the tour ends, I would think that Grails will have copies of the new compilation Black Tar Prophecies 4, 5 & 6 on hand for the shows. Hope so anyway; the timing would be a little unfortunate otherwise, but either way, the latest in the band’s ongoing Black Tar Prophecies series is due Oct. 1 and they’re hitting the road just a bit beforehand, including the first East Coast dates in a couple years. Good things are in the works for the adventurous Portland instrumentalists, however it winds up coming together.

Here’s the Black Tar Prophecies 4, 5 & 6 artwork and trailer and the latest off the PR wire:

GRAILS ANNOUNCE NEW RELEASE COMING THIS FALL

BLACK TAR PROPHECIES VOL’S 4, 5 & 6 COLLECTION SET TO DROP AFTER SEPTEMBER TOUR

Following the release of the most acclaimed album of their decade-long career, Deep Politics, Portland-based out-rock quartet Grails have revisited Black Tar Prophecies, their envelope-pushing, enigmatic series of eclectic musical experiments released in scarce editions that often disappear before fans discover their existence.

Black Tar Prophecies Vol’s 4, 5 & 6, set to drop October 1 on longtime label Temporary Residence Ltd., collects the last three volumes in the series, originally released as a limited-edition 12″ and a split LP with Finnish psych-rock phenoms Pharaoh Overlord. Exclusive to this collection is Volume 6, three previously unreleased tracks that run the gamut from found-sound collage to moody, piano-driven soundtracks to obscure erotic horror films that never existed (but should have). The collection hits just after the band’s previously announced run of US tour dates, an increasingly rare opportunity to see the virtuosic ensemble commute their otherworldly compositions to the material realm.

GRAILS TOUR DATES (all with Wrekmeister Harmonies and Lilacs & Champagne except where noted)
Sep 10 Nashville, TN The End
Sep 11 Atlanta, GA The Earl
Sep 12 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
Sep 13 Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery
Sep 14 Philadelphia, PA Boot and Saddle
Sep 15 New York, NY St Vitus
Sep 16 Boston, MA Great Scott
Sep 17 Montreal, QC Il Motore
Sep 18 Toronto, ON The Drake
Sep 19 Detroit, MI Magic Stick Lounge
Sep 20 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
Sep 21 Lexington, KY Boomslang Festival *(only Grails)

Grails, Black Tar Prophecies 4, 5 & 6 Trailer

After releasing their first two albums on Neurot, Portland, Oregon instrumental unit Grails began their association with Temporary Residence by appearing on the avant Black Sabbath tribute Everything Comes and Goes, covering the mother of all doom tracks, “Black Sabbath.” The newly-issued Deep Politics is Grails’ third full-length since then, and their sixth overall if you count the EP compilation Black Tar Prophecies Vols. 1, 2 & 3 on Important Records. From their 2003 The Burden of Hope full-length debut through 2008’s two LPs, Take Refuge in Clean Living and Doomsdayer’s Holiday, Grails had a remarkably prolific period, and though they released the Acid Rain DVD in 2009 and the fourth Black Tar Prophecies came out in 2010 (Vol. 5 is impending), the last couple years hasn’t found them nearly as present on the road or keeping the same level of productivity in terms of releases. That’s owed in no small part to drummer Emil Amos joining Om as the second half of the duo with Al Cisneros (Sleep, Shrinebuilder), as well as releasing solo material under the moniker Holy Sons, but he’s not the only one. Guitarist Zak Riles has also released an accomplished, meditative solo album, and toured with Portland singer-songwriter M. Ward. The effect all this has had is that the Grails of 2011 is a completely different animal.

Maybe that’s disingenuous. Grails has always shown diversity on their releases, beginning with The Burden of Hope and developing almost immediately an ethic for genre-transcendence on the 2004 follow-up, Redlight. On Deep Politics, however, the breadth of their creativity expands to bounds that are simply beyond anything they’ve ever done before. There are two sides to that. By reaching into new areas of sound, exploring (boldly) new influences, Grails today literally and physically cannot do what they’ve done before. I’d say this might disappoint some followers of the band, but I think if you’ve managed to stick it out this far with Grails, you probably expect something different each time out, and the sound the four-piece concoct on Deep Politics should be a boon to almost anyone who approaches it with an open mind. Their penchant for rich, contemplative atmospherics – a kind of think-thinky aural darkness – continues to run through the music, but across songs like the extended “I Led Three Lives” or the earlier “Corridors of Power,” Grails – the lineup completed by guitarist Alex Hall and bassist/pianist William Slater – bring in elements of dub and synthesized orchestration to affect an ambience like none they’ve experimented with previously. Beats back Native American flute sounds on “Corridors of Power,” which is a direct change from the lush and more organic build of opener “Future Primitive” – a manic guitar line running underneath like some kind of heart monitor – and the more piano- and guitar-driven reinterpretation of Morricone compatriot Bruno Nicolai’s “All the Colors of the Dark” score, from the 1972 film of the same name.

Immediately, Deep Politics surges with confidence and self-awareness. The title-track, led into by “Corridors of Power,” seethes with longing that comes through Slater’s piano work – so much so that about two minutes in, the music stops and Amos reintroduces it on drums, as though the song itself, said, “Oh what’s the point?” and tried to shut itself down. String-sounds texture “Deep Politics,” as they do much of the album, and there’s an acute sense of melody and rhythm in the guitars that feels more based in jazz than rock. “Deep Politics” is structured around, built from, the piano line, but in its later moments, it’s the strings that come to the fore, and it’s probably the most gorgeous realization to come from Grails to date, complemented by the shorter side A closer, “Daughters of Bilitis,” which seems to blend all the elements together: the electronic beats, the synth strings, the guitar and piano. It’s shorter than the title cut, and something of a comedown on the CD, but it makes sense thinking in terms of a vinyl release, which Grails always seem to do.

Read more »

Maybe you’re like me and you slept late this morning, got to work late, and have been struggling the whole day to try and get your shit done. The thought of another impending snowstorm for the American East Coast has me staring out the window looking for the first flake, and since my Tuesdays are usually a wash anyhow, this one just seems especially immobile.

This Grails track came down the wire a few days ago, and because I don’t seem to be able to accomplish anything else this afternoon, here it is. The song is called “I Lead Three Lives,” and it comes off the instrumentalists’ new album, Deep Politics, which is due out in March on Temporary Residence. Please enjoy.

I Lead Three Lives

Here’s the full tracklisting for the album:

1. Future Primitive
2. All the Colors of the Dark
3. Corridors of Power
4. Deep Politics
5. Daughters Of Bilitis
6. Almost Grew My Hair
7. I Led Three Lives
8. Deep Snow

Nothing says “we know how to have a good time” like a union between ’70s soundtrack sonics and horrific video. Portland, Oregon, instrumentalists Grails demonstrate their talent for pitting one against the other in the below teaser trailer for Deep Politics, apparently out March 8, 2011, on Temporary Residence. As someone who became used to a steady stream of Grails albums at six-month intervals, this first release since 2008’s Doomsdayer’s Holiday will be a most welcome arrival.