The Deal: Charlotte native Benji Hughes releases debut two-disc set, A Love Extreme, on July 22.
The Good: Hughes, 33, shows musical diversity throughout the 25 tracks. He comes across like Beck on “I Went With Some Friends to See The Flaming Lips” while other tracks come from a ’70s time machine – “So Well.” With patience, through the duration of the two discs, you’ll hear the full, wide range of Hughes’ voice and all its incarnations – whisper, falsetto, standard, etc. He finds the balance between music that funky and folk-y. There’s a handful of shoutouts to the Queen City in there, too, if you listen for them.
The Bad: Hughes lived in L.A. for six years and still divides his time between the two cities. Does that mean we can only claim him half the time?
The Verdict: Hughes’ album is earning praise in a variety of music mags such as Spin and Blender – it’s great to see another deserving musician from the Queen City get the recognition that’s due.
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2008.
