Midwest Mix Magazine

Damon Dotson

Stars and Bars

Lllama Records

Damon Dotson’s following has grown through the Midwest in the past few years. Besides hitting local college and university towns, Dotson has performed a couple of shows, literally, on Lake Okoboji. He played on a barge with a generator, surrounded by a crowd of happy boaters. Dotson’s music has a range to please almost any crowd, on water or land. Most of the tracks on “Stars and Bars” have a good old acoustic sound. But in “Glad to be Alive” and “Second Guess” the saxophone kicks in and so does the beat. Dotson performs solo with acoustic guitar or with a band. All of his songs sound great either way, but the fullness of the songs with the backup vocals will be the ones to keep the crowds moving. Catch Dotson at his next show in your town – his style of music begs to be heard live.

Moby
Wait for Me
Little Idiot Records

I don’t want to reminisce and sound likesome old geezer, but back in 1995, in Amsterdam, at 3 a.m. in the Paradiso night club, I experienced my first live performance of Moby. Incredible! It was a part of their Everything is Wrong tour. Before his most popular albums “Play” and “18” came out, he played a huge range of music from the fast dance tracks to the slow atmospheric soundscapes. For almost 20 years that’s almost all he has done. Moby’s latest album, “Wait For Me,” has gone back to his soundscapes – the DJ as composer. It is full of soulful sampled vocals, amazingly calming beats and those simple and familiar piano loops. Moby has always created a unique sound that is his despite the musical trend of the day. David Lynch directed the video for “Shot in the Back of the Head,” a black and white animation of mostly abstract images, which adds another level to the moody and eccentric atmosphere to the song and album.

Ziggy Marley
Family Time
Tough Gong Worldwide

Ziggy Marley’s new children’s album“Family Time” was inspired by his threeyear-
old daughter Judah. As a father of five, Marley knows how important music can be in a child’s development; just look what it’s done for him. Even Paul Simon, Willie Nelson and Jack Johnson wanted to be a part of Marley’s project and are guests on this album. Anyone who watches Noggin with their kids will be familiar with Laurie Berkner as
she teams up for the song “Future Man, Future Lady.” It passed the kid test as I
looked into the rearview mirror on the way home from a long road trip and saw my boys bopping their heads to the beat and following along to the words of“Ziggy Says” in the back seats. Overall,“Family Time” is a great album that kids and parents will enjoy. The album also includes two audio tracks from the books“Is There Really a Human Race” written by Jamie Lee Curtis and “My Helping Hands” by Marley.