In the music business, Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke both fall in the category of "weird uncle." The duo will be bringing its strange, twisted sense of humor to Madison's Barrymore this Tuesday night.
Gordon is the man who brought you classic Phish lyrics like "Careful with that axe, Eugene!" Kottke is the guy who made folk-guitar finger picking hip with an album that featured an armadillo on the cover. And when you have two slightly insane, hugely talented musicians as these working in the same hemisphere, what could be more natural than a collaboration?
That was the idea behind Clone, the pair's 2002 release and Kottke's first with an actual partner in crime. The music they produced was relaxed and groovy, complimenting both players' obvious skills with quirky lyrics and kitchen percussion. The album was a milestone for each musician, as it was far more successful than most Phish studio efforts and one of the most interesting recordings in the Kottke catalog.
Last summer, Gordon and Kottke recreated their natural synergy and added island flavors to make Clone's follow-up, Sixty Six Steps.
These mad geniuses kept the same understated feel and irresistible groove that made Clone a great listen and added new elements to make Sixty Six Steps fresh and uplifting. Like stepping out of an air-conditioned jetliner into the heat of the Caribbean sun, the album hits you with a blast of groovy calypso flavor that makes you feel great all over.
Gordon and Kottke's true strength lies in their ability to take a mishmash of styles and make something unusual but accessible. Their newest is a great mix of island music, funk, folk and even country sounds. It's sometimes mellow, sometimes upbeat, but always grooving.
Gordon's "Stolen Quiet" lilts along with a soft island feel, the perfect backdrop for a breakup song about now "having more room for my beer."
"Over the Dam," on the other hand, is a country shuffle minus the annoying country lyrics. And on "Can't Hang," Gordon and Kottke prove they can funk with the best of them.
Though neither Gordon nor Kottke is renowned as a singer (Kottke describes his voice as "geese farts on a muggy day"), they do well on Sixty Six Steps. Kottke's laid-back baritone is pitch-perfect on anything he sings. Gordon supplements his sometimes-meek voice perfectly with overdub harmonies and half-spoken lyrics. When Kottke and Gordon harmonize together — as on their cover of Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" — it sounds even better.
Overall, Sixty Six Steps outperforms Clone, though by a slim margin. Each album has its charm, but there isn't a bad song on Sixty Six Steps, whereas Clone had the muddled Gordon misstep "Clay." Clone and Sixty Six Steps are both must-haves for fans of folk, acoustic, funk, jam-band or just offbeat music.
With these two musicians, I would expect nothing less. They can't help but groove. Kottke plays with a remarkable sense of rhythm, developed from years of trying to move entire rooms with one man and a guitar.
And move rooms he does. Although you won't see Kottke taking off on any massive national tours, he is one of the most distinctive performers out there today. A Kottke show is half jaw-dropping guitar performance and half prose, since Kottke spends several minutes between each song telling wacky stories. Of course he never really stops the music, since while he's storytelling he's also absentmindedly strumming beautiful guitar licks.
Kottke himself will admit he's one of those people who never seems to shut up, but in his case it's a good thing, since you won't hear anybody else say what comes out of his mouth.
Also a legend in his own right, Gordon played with the jam band Phish for twenty years before the band called it quits in 2004. And since Phish was one of the best live bands ever, Gordon has deservedly earned the respect and love of jam-band fans everywhere.
From each player's history, we can deduce that the combination of Gordon and Kottke is bound to be explosive live. It's rare that two musicians from such completely different backgrounds play together in concert, but in this case, it's somehow not surprising. Kottke's snappy licks compliment Gordon's dancing bass lines perfectly, no matter what the setting.
Since both Kottke and Gordon are renowned for a twisted sense of humor, the show's bound to be funny as well. Gordon is notorious for writing lyrics like, "I'd like to cut your head off, so I could weigh it, whaddaya say?" and Sixty Six Steps features several of his odd verses. Add this to Kottke's tendency to digress into long-winded but hilarious commentary between songs, and the concert will probably take on a comic aspect.
But the humor is secondary to the music, which should be well worth the cost of a ticket. Whether they focus exclusively on the new album or do some older songs as well, Gordon and Kottke are sure to impress. Even though these two are slightly insane, the audience will definitely be in good hands.
