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Punch | 
 enlarge | Artist: Punch Brothers
Label: Nonesuch
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $3.99 (21%)
New (48) Used (14) from $10.19
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 4321
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 181732
UPC: 075597998283
EAN: 0075597998283
ASIN: B0010YO8M6
Release Date: February 26, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Punch Bowl | | • | The Blind Leaving the Blind: 1st Movement | | • | The Blind Leaving the Blind: 2nd Movement | | • | The Blind Leaving the Blind: 3rd Movement | | • | The Blind Leaving the Blind: 4th Movement | | • | Sometimes | | • | Nothing, Then | | • | It'll Happen |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The Punch Brothers are nothing less than a youthful band comprising the most prodigious and sought-after musicians from the cutting edge of bluegrass and folk music. The quintet was brought together by former Nickel Creek star Chris Thile, who, the critic Geoffrey Himes of Washington Post declared, "may well be the most virtuosic American ever to play the mandolin "- adding, not insignificantly, that "he has the flirtatious charisma of a major pop star." Joining him are Chris Eldridge, who Acoustic Guitar has called "the most-talked-about guitarist in the bluegrass world," a member of The Infamous Stringdusters and occasional guest star with dad Ben's legendary combo, The Seldom Scene; bassist Greg Garrison, who has recorded with John Scofield and Vasser Clements, among many others, and regularly sits in with Leftover Salmon; banjo player Noam Pikelny, an alumnus of Leftover Salmon and the John Cowan Band who also appears on label-mate K.D. Lang's new disc, Watershed; and fiddle player Gabe Witcher, "a first-call studio player with a big sound and immaculate intonation," according to String magazine, who has been featured, on the Oscar-winning soundtracks of Babel and Brokeback Mountain, among countless other films.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 The Best Album I've Heard in Years August 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Copied from here: http://moultano.blogspot.com/2008/03/best-album-ive-heard-in-years.html
"Punch" is the second album from the newly renamed "Punch Brothers," their first being "How To Grow a Woman From the Ground." It's unclassifiable music, which clearly springs from bluegrass but with influences too numerous to count. It mixes the idioms and instruments of bluegrass with the complex harmonies of contemporary classical and jazz. I guarantee you've never heard anything like it. It makes Bela Fleck sound tame and traditional. Chris Thile, the frontman for the group has been called "the most virtuosic American ever to play the mandolin," and the other members of the group receive less effusive praise only because their instruments are more common. Here they are put to good use playing things that have never before been played on these instruments.
The meat of the album is contained in a bewildering, four movement, forty minute piece entitled "The Blind Leaving the Blind." Despite the length and the stretches of dissonance, it's never inaccessible for long; the lyrics and melodies stay rooted in telling the emotional story of Chris's recent divorce. Every so often they break into an old-fashioned bluegrass jam, but then change keys in a few measures to remind you what you are listening to. On my first pass through it was exhausting to listen to, and it was a stretch for the band as well.
"For me, when I first received the score and saw what Chris was asking me to play on my instrument, that had to have been just as traumatic as him getting his divorce papers," Pikelny says. "He figured, 'Hey, if you have the notes there, you'll figure out a way to play it.'"
Chris Thile's voice, though adequate, doesn't match the quality of the playing and composition, and the album suffers from what I call "Great Album Syndrome." (Every truly great album must have one unbearable song, i.e. "The Crunge" or "Fitter Happier." On this album it's the first track, "Punch Bowl.") However, if hearing a banjo in a song doesn't immediately turn you off, (I understand that excludes a fair number of people) then give this a listen.
Spellbinding August 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am attracted to artists who cross musical genres and create a unique sound. Bluegrass meets classical meets folk meets blues. The Punch Brothers forge ahead into new musical territory with the same fearlessness as supreme artists Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer. Chris Thile's 4 part piece "The Blind Leaving the Blind" is spellbinding and beautifully lush with complex themes. Chris has brought together a group of fabulous musicians who can match his high level of precision performance and artistry. Punch is a groundbreaking piece of work. The entire CD presents a cohesive landscape of ideas and feelings that delights from beginning to end.
About time for a longer work from a mature composer. May 16, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you'd like to hear what happens when a (primarily) progressive folk composer, a man used to shooting off five-to-ten minute pieces, tries his hand at a mature work of 40 minutes, give this album a listen.
I've seen the tour supporting the show and I love the album. It's interesting to see how a multi-movement work will translate into a tradition full of short, repetitive tunes, but I really admire the guts here. He really achieves a mood here, and if you're really floundering for something to latch onto, try to focus on how he moves from section to section within the piece.
I'm sorry not everyone here enjoyed it, though I've learned not to waste my breath when it comes to defending music of the avant-garde persuasion. ("Trying too hard to be different"? Whatever that means. They made an experimental album, end of story.) Not that Chris has ever exactly courted the traditional bluegrass community--I mean, let's be realistic here.
 Thile is in his own world May 7, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Chris Thile is absolutely a prodigy turned polished, advanced musician.
Trouble is that he gets too far out there in his own complex, chromatic musical world that he loses many of us. The expression to describe the music on this album is "Irritatingly aphonic" IMHO. I keep waiting thru the aphonic stuff for the big payoff...and it just doesnt happen.
Too Bad.
On this one, he lost me...as he has, to a lesser degree, on many of his solo albums. But one thing you have to admit, he can damn sure play that mandolin. Just stick with "How to Grow a Woman..." (superb) and wait for their next album. Keep them headed in the right direction and do not buy this album.
 This album sux May 2, 2008
4 out of 13 found this review helpful
I'm sorry. I usually don't like to be negative...but this album is the worst I've listened to in a long time. It is disjointed and jumbled and never really got me into any kind of a groove with the music or lyrics. Very disappointing. Maybe it would be of interest to someone who likes music on an intellectual level but I like music that grabs me and pulls me in and this didn't.
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