dmb

The captivating and enthralling music of The Dave Matthews Band is up next. Led by lead singer/guitarist Dave Matthews, the five-some blends a mix of soulful grooves and eclectic percussive rhythms to create a majestic portrait of musical art they can claim as their own. Each member of this group seems to be a gifted virtuoso at his instrument. LeRoi Moore, educated in the art of jazz, lights up the beauty and richness of the sax. Carter Beauford deepens the band's texture with an overwhelming but alluring presence of rhythms. Boyd Tinsley is both elegant and colorful on violin. Stefan Lessard jams with shimmering brilliance on bass. South African-born Matthews brings some of the rhythmic traditions of his native continent to the mix, but his group's sound embraces Celtic and American folk elements as well. Both Moore and Boyd add particulalry vivid flashes of color to the group's flowing, supple sound. Matthews' vocals-gnarled and snarling on some songs, caressingly tender on others- bring urgency to his individually peculiar lyrics.

 LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program. We had tickets to attend their concert on wed the 27th, but the show was cancelled because of the funeral services. The musical world has lost an amazing talent.

badly drawn boy

This review is directed towards Badly Drawn Boy, more specifically the About A Boy soundtrack. It's a match made in heaven: the lovable, childlike songs of Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) and the lovable, oddly childlike characters of NIck Hornby. Badly Drawn Boy's soundtrack to About A Boy achieves  the rare trick of complementing the movie's moods and themes while standing nicely on it's own, thank you. The production polishes some of the eccentricities from Badly Drawn Boy's scruffy lo-fi sound, but that's ,mostly a good thing. The melodies are gorgeous and instrumentations lush. Even doubters will find it hard to resist the upbeat, hooky "Something To Talk About," while "Silent Sigh," with its delicate piano and wistful, sighing vocal, is four and a half minutes of sheer aural pleasure. Unusually for a soundtrack, nothing about this project caries even a whiff of filler. Even the incidental music beguiles, and the more full realized songs suggest that Gough's brilliance benefits from a bit of restraint. This is a start to finish listen that leaves you wanting more.

the white stuff

The White Stripes use a low-fidelity, do-it-yourself approach to writing and recording, stressing a stripped-down, raw, minimalistic simplicity of composition and arrangement mostly inspired by early punk rock, blues, garage rock, folk and country music.  They were formed in 1997 by vocalist, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jack White and his wife Meg White, who have remained the consistent line-up. If you're looking for something a little different with some edge, add The White Stripes to your line up.