they say that you’ve arrived… that’s just a high class bribe
“After 9 months of touring, and at the close of an 8 week tour of Europe, my band, The Innocent Criminals, and I loaded directly off the road and into an elegantly humble recording studio in Paris called ‘Studio Gang.’ The record, Lifeline, was recorded and mixed in 7 days on a 16-track analog tape machine. No computers or pro-tools were used anywhere in the process.”-Ben Harper
In The Colors (A radio hit for Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals? Could be!)
[audio=http://www.box.net/shared/static/35kntf5gbi.mp3]
Fool For a Lonesome Train
[audio=http://www.box.net/shared/static/la2mkzrqb3.mp3]
Fight Outta You
[audio= http://www.box.net/shared/static/m0y182ovup.mp3]
Heart of Matters
[audio=http://www.box.net/shared/static/ah6ol5at8n.mp3]
Lifeline
[audio=http://www.box.net/shared/static/duxdequy9l.mp3]
While listening to this album, some words came to mind…words like and ‘organic’ and ‘acoustic.’ I don’t know where those words came from, they just popped into my head.
What do you think?
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals are on tour now.
categories: music
posted by tandjam at 05:00 am
I’ve been hearing and seeing a lot about these guys. I hadn’t heard any of their music until now. I think I’m liking their sound. I would have to agree that it does sound “organic & acoustic”. I will be checking them out more. Thanks for the info.
My radio station has spins Ben Harper quit often. I was glad to
read this “No computers or pro-tools were used anywhere in the process.”-Ben Harper”
That’s the way music should be recorded. You say organic and
acoustic. That’s what Hicks said his next CD will be.
That’s what I’m waiting for.
The last time I saw Ben Harper live was around ‘96.
Here is a video from around then…this is what I always think of when I think Ben Harper because that concert is BURNED into my mind. And my ears. My ears still have not recovered from the volume of that show. Blisteringly loud.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ycYc5Ll2No
He has done so much else over the last 10 years…
He’s a very eclectic artist.
Solid music with a firm beat; I like it, and it does have an “organic” feel. Some of these tunes, however, are more spoken than sung. The precise enunciation is maybe a little too staccato for me at first listen. Just a bit smoother might be nice with more variation in timbre.
T&Jam - Thank you for the link - loved it. What amazing guitar work.
Liked the no-nonsense feel of these songs, except only the first and the last one played in their entirety for me.
Another Ben Harper link I really enjoyed - with “The Blind Boys Of Alabama”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTsze2exOP8
DP, thanks for that youtube link. That was great!
I picked up this CD last week at the store but put it back. Since I’ve heard of Ben Harper but not really heard his music I wasn’t sure I would like it. Call me crazy but by the time I got to the 3rd song Wilco’s last CD Sky Blue just popped into my head. To me this has the same mix. What I mean is the voice is out front, not buried within the music. That’s the way I wish the Taylor Hicks CD had been mixed. I might pick up this CD, I’ll have to listen some more, but it’s already attractive to me.