Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun

If you get high on Ben Harper's retro blend of funk, soul, folk and rock, his latest cut, Both Sides of the Gun, should be a pretty damn satisfying smoke. Harper rolls up his entire bag of tricks into this double disc joint, his seventh album in the past 12 years. And it's everything we've come to expect from one of the most versatile and polished artists on the scene. The first disc is vintage Harper -- tender acoustic melodies topped off with rich, intelligent lyrics. "Sweet Nothing Serenade," an instrumental track, reintroduces us to his patented brand of Weisenborn wizardry. "Reason to Mourn," a sensuous Beatleque ballad, is the most powerful track on this side of the album. But the real meat of this record is on the second disc, even though it might not have as much to offer lyrically as the first. The harder collection of songs gives us a good glimpse into Harper's own record collection -- his shout-outs to funk greats like Curtis Mayfield are fairly blatant. The title track could easily pass for something Stevie Wonder recorded in his hey day. And "Black Rain" is simply the most potent Katrina-inspired piece of music recorded since the storm ripped through the Gulf Coast last summer. Yankee fans might object to "Get It Like You Like It" -- the most infectious tune on the harder disc -- because it invokes scenes from the 2004 American League Championship Series. But if they write off the song just because it alludes to Johnny Damon's grand slam in game seven, they'll be denying themselves the joy of a totally legit jam. It might not be his best work to date, but at this point of his career, Harper has proven that he's far better on his worst days than pretty much anyone is else on their best. [www.benharper.com]