Search - Eighty Mile Beach :: Inclement Weather

With their roots firmly planted in jazz, the electronica duo of Eighty Mile Beach--Beth Custer and Christian Jones--isn't afraid of a little experimentation. Thus, Inclement Weather--the group's genre-melding debut--doesn't discriminate in its influences. Custer's vocals remind one of Suzanne Vega, while backing instrumentation ranges from funky acid jazz to hip-hop breaks. Some of the Bay Area's best jazz artists help the pair out (guitarist Will Bernard, saxophonist Ralph Carney, and didgeridooist Stephen Kent), and the results are surprisingly effective. Aside from the occasional clichéd lyric (which acid-jazz song doesn't have these?), there's a lot going on here. At its best moments, the album's minimalist tracks, such as "Sparse Moments Sublime" and "That Modest Prize," are largely reminiscent of Dos, the classic dueling-bass jazz-rock duo of Mike Watt and wife Kira Roessler. --Jason Verlinde