Phases and Stages

KVRX Local Live Vol. 6: Unlimited Bandwidth

For the second year in a row, KVRX churns out a 2-CD set chronicling its Local Live radio series, and for the second straight year, there's no better way to spend a buck or seven on a smorgasbord of local music sprinkled with key national acts. Last year's volume was split thematically between a grab-bag first disc, and an airy, cinematic second one. Unlimited Bandwith, however, suffers from an identity crisis. If there's a theme, it's undoubtedly a jammy groove-jazz thing, most prevalent on disc one. From the jarring opener by Grupo Fantasma, through breezy cuts by the Sea and Cake, Chris Black, Seela, and Shearwater, a mellow tropicalia/loungy feel gives way to some serious skronk, courtesy of the Free Radicals and Uz Jsme Doma, and then finally to the wild rhythmic waves of Rhythm of Black Lines, J. Davis Trio, and Flipside. The winners are Hairy Apes BMX's electronic cornucopia "Air Nut Landing Strip" and now-defunct Tanworth-in-Arden's beautifully lilting "Time to Wait for Nothing." Disc two is markedly better overall, sprinkled with gems by roadshows My Morning Jacket, Call and Response, Death Cab for Cutie, and Centro-matic and locals Experimental Aircraft and Pearly Gates. Overall, it's poor sequencing decisions that reduce Vol. 6 to less than the sum of its considerable parts; a pair of natural segues are broken up by, coincidence or no, Latino-flavored cuts, one flamenco and one traditional Brazilian. A conscious effort to eclecticize, or simply an unwieldy crop of performances to arrange? Who knows? The final outcome is a mild slump for the consistently good Local Live CD series.