Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, “Live at Twist & Shout” (Virgin)
John Butler, “Live at Twist & Shout” (Jarrah)
Denver is a storied live music town. The industry names — Barry Fey, Chuck Morris, Paul Epstein and others — are as important as the legendary local venues, past and present, including Red Rocks, the Rainbow Music Hall, the Fillmore Auditorium, Ebbets Field and the 15th St. Tavern.
And so it’s fine news to see more music coming out of Colorado, not only in terms of local acts such as the Fray, Photo Atlas and Meese — but also in the form of international acts recording live CDs here and spreading the good word of Denver and its intense love of music.
These two releases are tight examples of what can be done with some solid relationships and a lot of drive. Twist & Shout records, in its new location on East Colfax Avenue for more than a year now, is a legitimate venue, with mobile record racks making room for the fans and framed rock pictures and posters adding some ambience.
Kudos to Twist & Shout’s Epstein and Dawn Greaney for making it such a pleasant place to see a rock show.
Butler’s six-song EP is a must-have for fans, a tight recording of a lively, brisk set. But the Harper two-disc set is especially impressive. The six-song EP, including a soulfully moving “Fool For a Lonesome Train,” has crisp sound that will undoubtedly encourage other bands to record here. The accompanying DVD, directed by local filmmaker Mike Drumm, captures the exciting, stripped-down performance with a knowing elegance.
–Ricardo Baca
Various artists, “Studio C: Volume 19” (KBCO)
The best “Studio C” recordings are the ones with the most variety. That said, this year’s disc — compiled and released again by AAA radio giant KBCO — is a winner.
A disc full of Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones and their many soundalikes would be painful. And while a lot of that music is the core of the AAA genre of soft rock, it is thankfully expanding into more interesting realms of indie rock and country.
Some of AAA’s biggest artists are repped here, including tight recordings from John Mayer, Ray LaMontagne, Jewel and Sarah McLachlan. Their song choices don’t always make sense, with Mayer singing the boring “Belief” and Jewel taking on the 12-year-old “You Were Meant For Me.”
But it’s worth skipping KT Tunstall to hear the Shins’ slowed-down, countrified “New Slang.” (Think you’re sick of this song because of the “Garden State” fallout? Give this a listen and think again.) Ryan Adams’ “Two” is solid, but for less pretension and better playing, Chris Thile’ “Watch ‘at Breakdown” is an exciting instrumental outing.
Jet’s 2003, garage-aping track “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” is an odd inclusion here, but the recording is nuanced. And that’s so much of Studio C’s charm — the individual recordings unique to this CD. Other tracks worth mentioning: the Decemberists’ “The Perfect Crime #2,” Rodrigo y Gabriela’s “Tamacun” and Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s “Falling Slowly,” the latter being the couple from the film “Once.”
–Ricardo Baca
