Michael Beach - Live at Phoenix Central Park

Michael Beach - Live at Phoenix Central ParkOne glance at the names on the cover here should be enough to get you to check it out. On this downright extraordinary live album, California-born/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Michael Beach is backed by a murderer’s row of Down Under talent: bassist Lloyd Swanton (The Necks), drummer Joe Talia (Oren Ambarchi, Eiko Ishibashi, Jim O’Rourke, countless more) and guitarist Mick Turner (Dirty Three). With Beach behind the piano, the focus is more on ballads — but don’t mistake that for a mellow sensibility. The music is exploratory and expansive, the players bending the songs beautifully behind Beach’s impassioned vocals. My personal favorite is the long, bittersweet “No One Knows Any Better,” which sounds like the Dirty Three teaming up with Epic Soundtracks. And hey, there’s also an amazing cover of Richard Thompson’s “Calvary Cross” — what more could you possibly ask for?!