Xavier Rudd -- Food in the Belly

Duality is the overriding theme of Xavier Rudd's life and career. A citizen of both Australia and Canada, the 26-year-old guitarist/surfer/social activist finds himself musically encamped in a variety of related yet distinct genres, from the acoustic finger-picked Folk contemplation of Leo Kottke and Richard Thompson to the stripped down Blues of Jack Johnson and Robert Randolph to the visceral electric Rock passion of Ben Harper and Dave Matthews. Like those artists, Rudd spins his musical gold in the tension between the extremes, often drawing on several directions within the same song, not to mention a battery of instruments: 12-string acoustic/electric and Weissenborn guitars, banjos, didgeridoos and exotic percussion. On Food in the Belly, his sixth album, Rudd recorded live to 2-inch tape in a house/studio, giving the album a warm, organic feel. Musically, he's typically beyond genre boundaries, from the Paul Simon groove of "Messages" to the Dave Matthews hush of "My Missing" to the Bob Marley nod on "The Mother." Lyrically, Rudd's standard list of concerns (the environment, homelessness, empathy, love in a cynical world) are addressed head-on, without an excess of hippie moralizing or histrionics. (Brian Baker) Grade: B+