THE MOTET
Music For Life (Harmonized)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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The Motet doesn't dry hump its way through the hour of Latin, Funk and Afro/Cuban-Beat on its new album Music For Life, it goes for it like a sweaty teenage kid parked up on the bluff. It's a still warm Friday night in the fall, the first football game of the year is happening and no one's sure what the down and distance situation is out on the field. Sure the car's in park, and they aren't alone there overlooking the city below and the river that parts its two mills, but the engine is most definitely humming, you know?

This record doesn't attempt to hurry in getting anywhere; it takes scenic routes at a frenetic, meandering pace. Sounds like an impossible contradiction? Rare are the acts who, relying on interplay between instruments, actually garner some of that electric improvisation in their recordings. While the engineering is in places uneven, and the production values often top-heavy, the talents and grinning energy showcased are as plain as the nose on its face. The Motet are a Boulder, Colorado ensemble featuring an awesome union of guitar, keyboards, bass and sax so vivacious in their assault, so evolutionary in their sound, they defy convenient categorization. Legendary drummer Dave Watts spearheads the group, staking claim as one of the up-and-comers on the scene.

© 2004 - Erick Mertz