The Dave Matthews Band teamed up with a very different producer for Stand Up — Mark Batson, who earned his reputation with modern R&B and hip-hop records by India.Arie and Beyoncé. This doesn’t result in an extreme makeover, but puts a gentle gloss on the band’s sound that renders it sleek and muted. Batson produces the DMB as he would any other record — by keeping the mixes spare and open, cutting up the rhythms in the computer — yet the album winds up warmer than 2001′s Everyday. Matthews pulls away from the introspection of Busted Stuff, occasionally reviving the humor that spiked his earlier work. The resulting album may not be to everybody’s taste, but it is an intriguing change of pace. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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