Heave Media

Something Worth Talking About

Gossip in the Grain’s eclectic instrumentation makes for a solid fall soundtrack

Ray LaMontagne

Gossip In The Grain

Released on Oct 14, 2008

Being able to put yourself in the appropriate setting when listening to music for the first time makes all the difference. More often than not, though, I find myself doing one of three things when the first listen occurs: working at my computer, driving to school, or walking to class. Those situations aren’t exactly conducive to setting the stage for any kind of music.

However, my luck changed this past weekend. I had to take a road trip to Springfield with my awesome mother, and I brought along Ray LaMontagne’s Gossip in the Grain to entertain us. Even though it was heard while we were driving, listening to bluesy-folksy-rock while navigating endless cornfields and random rivers provides a far different experience than sampling one song during a drive to Naperville. Since my mom is a bit of a music fiend, and should have her 15 minutes of Internet notoriety, I’m going to intersperse her opinion throughout this.

When we first listened to “You Are the Best Thing,” the opening track, I was completely bowled over. It’s catchy, but not as a result of repetitive, ridiculous beats or lyrics. What made it catchy was the pull of his voice, which does just that—it’s enticing, strained, and sounds like he’s been drinking whisky and smoking since birth. For me, those are the qualities of a perfect male voice.

For my mom, something else catches her attention—“Alyssa, you do realize that he sounds a lot like Roy Orbison and Joe Cocker, right? Come on—it’s practically identical to ‘You Got It.’” Sweet Jesus, the woman is right. Fun experiment—sing the chorus of “You Got It” against the melody of LaMontagne’s chorus, and you’ll see the similarity. Thankfully, I like Roy Orbison, and because of the slightly rougher sound of LaMontagne, along with more creative instrumentation, this song is saved from being a copy of Orbison’s.

The liberal use of instruments on the first song is a trend continued throughout most of the album, with varying levels of effect. Since he’s so willing to employ many instruments to flesh out his sound, it becomes all the more obvious when a track is more stripped-down, like “Let It Be Me.” What comes out of this is a sweetly melancholic song which puts the best thing about him—his voice—on full display.

However, sometimes his creativity gets the best of him, and listeners are left with an almost cartoonish sound. On “Hey Me, Hey Mama,” I couldn’t help but feel like a state trooper was going to come arrest me for cow-tipping. The banjo and muted horn sections, along with the home-grown sound of the percussion, makes for an overly “country” sound. It just ends up sounding a little unnatural. Mom’s take? She was waiting for a rooster to crow along with the chorus. On the next track, though, he nails this “country” sound. “Henry Nearly Killed Me [It’s A Shame]” is fantastic, most likely because of the lack of banjo and rolling rhythm throughout the song. 

 
Since most of the album consists of clever instrumentation and of course, his spectacular voice, I can forgive a tiny bit of stereotypical banjo. If you can’t listen to this album with loved ones while driving through the plains, I have to make one recommendation: take it with you on a long bike ride (to be eco-friendly, of course) along some kind of prairie path. This album deserves to be surrounded by the open fields and fall colors that its’ sound connotes.

Posted by Alyssa Vincent on Oct 25, 2008 @ 1:00 pm