G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE
Electric Mile (Epic/Sony)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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The fifth G. Love & Special Sauce CD is no surprise for fans of the unusual trio, and I say that in a positive way. We've always been able to count on these guys to provide us with a smorgasbord of musical styles, from blues to pop to hip-hop and beyond on each CD, while making it all feel like we're laying back on a raft being guided down a lazy river of twists and turns and textures and colors. If that sounds like I was stoned when I wrote it, it's because this music makes me feel that buzzed. G. Love (guitar/Vocals), Jimmy Prescott (who plays a 100 year old acoustic upright bass... how cool is that!) and Jeffrey Clemens (drums) have an understanding of what it is that makes straight people feel stoned: the groove. They are, in fact, masters of groove, and Electric Mile flows the grooves through the air and through your body, sometimes with a little help from keyboardist John Medeski and percussionist Billy Conway. However they deliver the groove, I guarantee it'll be one of the finest you'll hear this year, wrapped in music so fine it defies adequate description. Despite their gig as the house band on Turn Ben Stein On (Comedy Central), they still don't have the large audience they deserve, possibly because they never get the kind of sound treatment their music deserves on that show and come off sounding thin. If you only know them from that show, take my word on this: this CD will surprise the hell out of you. Not the long-time fans, though. We're not surprised. We're never surprised when G. Love delivers big.

© 2001 - DJ Johnson