Friday, January 2, 2009

MELODIME "Memories in the Form of Sound" Lockstar Records

THE CRUX of Melodime's music is Bradley James Rhodes's baritone, accompanied by either acoustic guitar or piano. Plucked from the Northern Virginia quartet's new album, songs such as "Through the Miles" might suggest that Rhodes and fellow singer Rachel Beauregard front a jazz-folk combo, sleekly contemporary but suitable for easy-listening venues.

Yet "Memories in the Form of Sound" often expands on its gentler passages, from the hard rock of "The Orphan Song" to the gospel of "When I'm 63."

The latter is more characteristic of the band, which draws heavily from traditional African American styles. "I don't classify as a Southerner," cautions Rhodes in "Orange People," and the group offers two versions of "NoVa Love," a song that puts its origins right in the title. Still, Southern-rooted styles are integral to Melodime, which owes something to Charlottesville's Dave Matthews Band and more to Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans. With their New Agey lyrics and intricate production, tunes such as "Twisted Fairytale" are up-to-date. But there's a lot of musical history in them, too.

-- Mark Jenkins

Appearing Friday with Louis Fabrizi at Jammin' Java. (703-255-1566, http://www.jamminjava.com). Show starts at 7:30 p.m.