Donavon Frankenreiter - Move By Yourself

So it's kind of been awhile since my last post, but with school and planning a road trip last weekend for fall break, time hasn't been exactly abundant. But now that I spent 3 days basking in the warm fall sunlight of the Jersey Shore, things seem to be a lot better.

We got to the shore Friday afternoon and immediately went down to the beach. To all of our surprises, the water was a warm 65 degrees. We ran back to the house, got in our bathing suits and swam for a few hours.

The drastic change from crappy rainyish weather in Oakland to 75 and sunny down the shore was better than any pill to lift my mood. After swimming, surfing and boccie balling all day, we went back to the house and crashed. It was then that I turned on my iPod, sunk into a couch, closed my eyes and mellowed out to Donavon Frankenreiter.

I initially heard of Donavon after listening to him sing with G. Love and Jack Johnson on the song "Rodeo Cowboys." His voice isn't that strong in the song and it was clear he was just jamming with some friends on the track.

But I went out and picked up his album "Move By Yourself" anyway, just to see if he had the same kind of flow and rhythm as G. Love and Jack. He does and he doesn't. The title track of the album has instrumentals that seem like it belong in the background of cheap 70s funk movie with lyrics that feel like they should be read at a self-help seminar. But it works. You can't help bobbing your leg to the beat and sing along.

But Donavon does strip it down and get mellow and emotional. "These Arms" is a song to his young son about Donavon and his wife always being there even though the life of a musician is confusing and difficult. It has some kind of funkiness to it, but more along the lines of a Wallflowers type of funk than 70s porn funk that populates some of the other songs on the album.

Donavon's southern Cali and former pro surfer roots can be clearly seen in the album as well. Listening to tracks like "Girl Like You" and "That's Too Bad," one gets the sense of Donavon and his friends sitting around a beach campfire and jamming out.

While not as mellow as Jack Johnson or a rappy as G. Love, Donavon Frankenreiter's "Move By Yourself" brings a weird combination of relaxed energy. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but check it out and you'll know what I mean.