Monday, December 21, 2009

Moon Taxi's 'Live Ride' is more than a roadtrip for listeners

I'll be honest, not many live albums seem to impress me much, however, when I heard Moon Taxi's live album, entitled 'Live Ride', I was more than impressed with the way it turned out. They illustrated a quite solid and powerful mix of funk, folk and bluegrass, and they executed it in such a way that was unlike any other band I've heard thus far. The overall quality of the album is crisp and clean, and was properly mixed and mastered by  Ross Gower of Nashville Mobile Recording, in Franklin. Each member of this five piece band rises to their full potential. Go ahead, try and find a song that is satisfactory. It won't happen.  The album opens with fans chanting 'Moon Taxi', and they are clearly pumped to hear the opening song, 'Common Ground'. Although you can't actually see them playing, its so easy to visualize their stage performance. In specific, when they open up track number 10, a song that has a definite bluegrass feel entitled, 'Poacha Cooper'. Lead singer, Trevor Terndrup, says to the crowd to not be afraid to clap your hands. I did. All the songs are good, but another noteworthy song is the instrumental, track number 12, "Information Center." Its barely over two minutes long, but only two words came to mind when I heard it: pretty and epic. Its the kind of good stuff you look for that covers you in chill bumps. Wes Bailey adds the epic touch on the keys while guitarists Trevor and Spencer Thompson harmonize. Overall, I think this album is really well put together. Hearing this album before the New Years Eve show is exciting, because now I know what to expect: a memorable way to kick off the New Year.

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