Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Live Energy, August 30, 2006
First heard of Xavier only a few months ago when friends bought me a ticket to see him in concert in Brisbane, Australia. What a truly awesome performance, one man making such fine and energetic music. The combination of great beats, the unearthly sound of the Didjeridoo and his brilliant slide guitar work make Xavier, in my opinion, the best artist to have appeared in this the 21st century. His studio albums are great but this one really gives an indication of how much of an accomplished artist this man is. If you haven't seen him live yet, get this CD and if he is ever performing live in your area, do whatever you can to get tickets and see him, you won't be disapointed.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A fine continuation of Ben Harper's mid-90's sound, June 22, 2009
I remember the first time I heard Ben Harper's Fight For Your Mind. I thought it was one of the most unique, brilliant albums I had ever heard, combining acoustic blues, funk, reggae, and folk-rock with Weissenborn guitars (hollow-necked Hawai'ian guitars, played with a slide, lap-style). Soon after, Ben Harper moved away from that sound, focusing more on electric instruments, larger band arrangements, and a more straight-forward rock sound. Luckily, a few Australians came to the rescue, most importantly John Butler, and Xavier Rudd. Of course, Rudd is not the only one enamored of Fight For Your Mind. Jack Johnson obviously had that album on endless repeat for at least five years straight since his sound is so derivative of that album. Rudd isn't even the only Australian to be obsessed with that sound. The Beautiful Girls are also obviously huge Harper fans. What separates Rudd from mere imitators is a combination of factors. First, Rudd has obviously been listening not just to Ben Harper, but to Australian slide guitar virtuoso Jeff Lang. Second, Rudd has his own aesthetic. One wouldn't think that the didgeridoo would make a good funk instrument, but Rudd makes it work, and using a looping device, he can lay down a base on one instrument while improvising on another. Keller Williams uses the same trick, but Keller Williams is more of a goofball, and is more interested in bluegrass than reggae (in fact, he has worked on multiple occasions with my favorite bluegrass flatpicker-- Larry Keel). Rudd manages to take a base established by Ben Harper, and create a logical extension that will satisfy fans hoping for something like Fight For Your Mind without just ripping it off. Like Ben Harper, Xavier Rudd is at his best live, and this live album captures the concert experience well. The set list is representative of what he was playing at the time, and the Weissenborn-didgeridoo combination set a fantastic blues/funk/reggae acoustic groove. Rudd isn't the most exploratory soloist. He doesn't break down the melody and reconstruct it the way a jazz musician, or even most jam band guitarists will. Instead, he builds his instrumental work around repeated riffs. Luckily, he usually moves on before the riff gets old, but be warned that if you are a jam band fan looking for someone who plays involved, exploratory solos, Rudd isn't it. However, this album is all about the mid-tempo, acoustic blues/funk/reggae groove, and if that appeals to you, get one of Rudd's live albums, like this one.
Obviously, if you like Rudd and Harper, you should be listening to John Butler too. Like Rudd, Butler is obviously a huge fan of early Ben Harper, and like Rudd, Butler is a disciple of Jeff Lang. Butler distinguishes himself with instrumentation (favoring a 12-string and bottleneck slide), and with a more aggressive sound, but anyone who likes Harper and Rudd is also likely to appreciate Butler. Obviously, I also recommend that everyone track down albums by Australian blues virtuoso Jeff Lang.
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by Xavier Rudd 
