There's a popular trope music writers like to use—sometimes even more than the requisite cooking analogy—that I like to call the “Bastard Child.” It goes like this: Mix Artist A with Artist B, and voila! Artist C pokes his furry little head around the corner. Such a long introduction as above would be useless, of course, without an example. So…take Jack Johnson, have him flip-flop for an evening with Midnight Oil, and you have the barefooted, breathy-voiced Xavier Rudd. (Seriously, the dude claims he doesn't even own a pair of shoes). His lyrics tend toward Jose Gonzales-like tenderonies about the human heart more often than not, but he also takes on the plight of the Australian aboriginal peoples, even going so far as to blend elements of the language into his languid, water- and Thai-sticked worldview. What's more, you get more didgeridoo for your dollar than most any other artist out there will provide. His 2008 release Dark Shades of Blue is something of a misnomer considering the album's somewhat sunny content, but it's a fine introduction to the work of an artist Matthew McConaughey calls one of his absolute favorites. All right, all right, all right.
Fri., Aug. 7, 8 p.m., 2009
Fri., Aug. 7, 8 p.m., 2009
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