September 2008 CD Reviews
|
|
September 2008 CD Reviews |
|
           
|
Rating System... ***** Classic, Essential Purchase **** Very Good. Majority of songs above average *** Good. Solid disc with little filler ** Mediocre. A few above average cuts- mostly filler * Avoid it. Reviews added throughout the month so check often NEWEST REVIEWS LISTED FIRST
Magic Slim & The Teardrops "Midnight Blues" (Blind Pig) LISTEN Magic Slim & The Teardrops "Midnight Blues" (***). You know what you're gonna get with each new Magic Slim & The Teardrops set- raucous, gritty houserockin' Blues and he continues to do it as well as anyone. Several big name guests are here, as in James Cotton ("You Can't Lose What You Never Had"), Lonnie Brooks ("Spider In My Stew"), Elvin Bishop ("Cryin' Won't Let You Stay"). Of course the first thing I did was jump to track 13 for an alleged "R & B arrangement" of Little Milton's "Loving You Is The Best Thing That Happened To Me" featuring backing vocals by Otis Clay. Not bad but clearly not his comfort zone. Covers like Hound Dog Taylor's "Give Me Back My Wig" and Buster Benton's (written by Willie Dixon) "Spider In My Stew" are where it's at. Still Slim's covered "Spider In My Stew" much better in the past. The 13-song set also boasts 5 Slim (Morris Holt) originals, ranging from the rockin' "Let Me Love You", "Crying Won't Let You Stay" and "Full Load Boogie" and up-from-the-bottom slow Blues "Carla" and "What Is That You Got". As always Slim's pickings are sharp and bending. LISTEN Kolvane "Kill These Blues" (*** 1/2) "Kolvane" is a singer/guitarist that leads an eclectic, adventurous Rock band that does some Blues with The Kinks (refrain on "Kill These Blues") and CCR at heart. Actually that's just two influences I could mention as the set is quite unpredictable from lumbering Blues/Rock opener "Dying On The Vine" to the Swamp Pop/Blues "Backslide" and "Whiplashed" (pure John Fogerty) to the 60s-styled British Rock anthem "Kill These Blues" to perhaps a half Freddie Mercury/half Black Crowes ballad called "Under The Honey Moon". I have to say I'm impressed. There's Southern Rock ("Sun Song"), a lil' Country ("Goodbye Sweet Harriett"), Funk ("Cards"), Jazzy balladry ("Let Me Love You Tonight") and so on. Still the band sounds cohesive overall. That's their "style". Not quite kitchen sink but unabashedly diverse. Very much worth a listen and a pleasant surprise (I was expecting wannabe Blues/Rock noisemakers). LISTEN Various Artists "Bam Fest 2007" (** 1/2). With a lineup that boasts biggies like Michael Burks, Johnny Winter, Ana Popovic and Rory Block this live set is surprisingly low profile. The "Bam Fest" stands for the annual Belmont Arts & Music Festival held at the Belleville Community Park in Wisconsin. The 11-track "concert" commences with some competent Boogie and Blues from regional acts like Cash Box Kings and West Side Andy Glen Davis (opening acts) before the first national act hits the stage. Here Rory Block slides out a Son House delta Blues nugget ("Preachin' Blues"). David "Honeyboy" Edwards treats the audience to a little story about his experiences with Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williams ("Talkin' About Robert") in addition to a raggedy take on his "Catfish Blues". Up next is the main event as Michael Burks, Ana Popovic and Johnny Winter close the disc. Burks does a heavy rocked-up version of his mentor's "Born Under A Bad Sign", Popovic slow drags a cut from her latest release ("U Complete Me"), Johnny Winter then closes the show with a noisy run through of Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" (though you can hardly tell). LISTEN Gaye Adegbalola "Gaye With Shame" (** 1/2). I had a openly gay friend who used to invite me to shows by folk singer Phranc who is a lesbian. Phranc's lyrics were open about it. She puts on a darn good show. I'm straight so I went just to hear a good performance (and perhaps to pat myself on the back for being so darn tolerant). I had no trouble with Phranc often using her sexuality as a gimmick. Most pop singers from Madonna to Shakira do the same darn thing so what's the fuss? Her being gay obviously is not a "gimmick" but it did give her a built-in audience. Christian music also benefits from automatic Christian fans too. The crowd reacted wildly to any gay reference in her show but I just liked how Phranc sang and played. She's talented and and so is Gaye Adegbalola. Both are "without shame" when it comes to folks knowing which way they swing. Regardless of how you feel about their sexuality a talented musician is a talented musician. But, in fairness and equality, a straight singer can and often overdoes the sexual angle and the same can be said about the sexuality on this album. Gaye's "Queer Blues" sets the tone. She sings "I'm here now and I'm queer now you better get over it", theretofore delivering an autobiographical lighthearted ditty of how she knew she was gay. She delivers her message with a wink ("Hetero Twinges" is one of my favorites. Here she praises a super fine dude who gives her "heterosexual" urges) and with a groan ("Deja Vu Blues" cuts very deep). Though the majority of cuts are original even some of her covers fit the theme ("The Great Pretender", "Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On"). The question is: Would this record be interesting without the risqué subject matter? Yes and no. It's nearly impossible to separate the two. This is a woman who's had to face prejudice for being a woman, being black and for being gay as she explains on the the spoken word "Speech" near the end of the disc. That said, overall the album is just too long (18 cuts) and that means there's just as many hits as misses. Musically, it's not far removed from her work as a member of Saffire- The Uppity Blues Women, but clearly this is as much a personal message project as anything else. It succeeds on that level all the way. I wish she had just played it straight (no pun intended) and serious throughout or just kept her tongue in her cheek. The mixture of the two is overkill.
Howard Tate "Blue Day"
(Evidence) LISTEN Howard Tate "Blue Day" (***). Tate's welcomed return has been an underwhelming one in terms of quality since 2003's comeback CD "Rediscovered". That set was good but had it's share of filler. Less thrilling was the low profile "Portrait Of Howard", which fitted Tate with disparate pop music by the likes of Randy Newman, Nick Lowe and Burt Bacharach. A fine "Live" collection was dropped in 2006 by Shout! Factory. It's 2008 and ubiquitous producer Jon Tiven is given complete control on this Evidence Records debut. Tiven has managed to gain crossover (read white Blues audience) acclaim for the likes of Little Milton and Wilson Pickett with his Swamp Rocky-flvaored Soul/Blues. "Blue Day" stumbles in it's first step with it's goofy song about troubled singer Amy Winehouse. On "Miss Beehive" Tate sings "She should be feeling so pretty/Got the world on a string/But the girl's so used to the Blues/Thinking that she was born to be bad/Everybody knows she's putting something up her nose and she don't want to go to rehab". Um, too brusque. Anyway, the project gets on track with the next three selections ("40 Days", "Blue Day", "If God Brought You To It"), two of which were borrowed from Ellis Hooks. Tiven projects are some of the more generous out there as he doesn't seem to believe in outtakes. Like other albums he's produced "Blue Day" boasts fifteen cuts. Sure, there's a good share of duds and the overall ragged sound tends to get redundant but the Tae/Tiven pairing succeeds nevertheless. LISTEN Al Green "Lay It Down" (**** 1/2). Sometime before the album materialized there were rumors the new Al Green project would be one of those usually obnoxious "duets" type projects featuring a host of Neo-Soul neophytes. Though Green is joined by folks like Anthony Hamilton, John Legend and ?uestlove this is certainly an Al Green album...and one of the best of his career to boot. To me this is Green's third comeback attempt to R & B. The first being the woefully overproduced 1995 set "Your Heart's In Good Hands" , the second was his mighty fine, if pedantic, return to Willie Mitchell's Hi Records sound (both "I Can't Stop" and "Everything's OK"). First he was too contemporary and then he was just too retro. Now, you would be right if you said Green is still riding high (or "Hi"?) from that second comeback but the new "Lay It Down" has brilliantly managed to make Green sound like classic Al Green while simultaneously contemporary. It's an obvious labour of love by Green's co-producers ?uestlove and James Poyser. It's organic, it's classic and it's hip. Better yet most of the songs are Grade A, some even deserving a slot on the ultimate Al Green best of ("You've Got The Love I Need", "Stay With Me (By The Sea)", "What More Do You Want From Me"). Al Green is truly back on top (the album even crashed the Billboard Top 200 Albums at #9). It's time to scream for an encore. LISTEN Garnet Mimms "Is Anybody Out There?" (****) I for one welcome and even demand that every 60s or 70s Soul singer make a comeback today. Ever since (and before) the now defunct Bullseye Blues label began releasing new albums by the likes of Ann Peebles and Wilson Pickett we've been blessed with several terrific comebacks from Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke, Candi Staton, Bettye LaVette, Howard Tate and the list goes on. That list now includes Garnet Mimms who hadn't released a secular record since 1978! I admit it's debatable whether this should be classified as a "secular" album being it's Soul, Rhythm & Blues with lots of religious overtones. Produced by Jon Tiven, "Is Anybody Out There?" ain't your granpappy's Gospel. The swamp/rock title track uses contemporary themes (terrorist attacks and other earthly ills) to make the point we need the Almighty. "I Know The One", "Limitless" (which certainly borrows from Bruce Sprinsgteen's "Backstreets") and "God Is Love" are unabashedly in praise mode and that makes perfect sense. After all "Soul music" was born in the church. Unlike some other recent Tiven projects this album fully holds up through it's fifteen tracks. It's a worthy achievement to bring religionists and secularists together to equally enjoy the same album. Perhaps that's hyperbole but this albums inspires in a lot of ways and it rocks your soul too. LISTEN Eddie Floyd "Eddie Loves You So" (** 1/2). Back in 2001 Soul/Blues master Roy Roberts produced an underappreciated comeback album on Stax legend Eddie Floyd ("To The Bone") and it's hands down preferable to this hit-and-miss effort. The gimmick here is Floyd covering songs that he wrote made successful by other artists (Sam & Dave "You Don't Know What You Mean To Me", Carl Thomas "I Will Always Have Faith In You") on half the record plus new compositions ("Close To You", "Head To Toe) and redoes of past recordings ("Consider Me", "You're So Fine"). The album's not a failure but Floyd's voice has thinned considerably and the rhythm section lacks punch in several spots. It's wonderful it's all real instruments but it just doesn't satisfy like it should. The keepers are probably the new songs ("Close To You", 'Head To Toe") and the sorta new "Since You've Been Gone" (a tune written in 1957 for Floyd's group The Falcons but never recorded) features rolling tom-toms, bass, light lap steel, and loose call-and-response backups.
Nathaniel Kimble "Sensational" (Kimbard/Brimstone) LISTEN Nathaniel Kimble "Sensational" (**) For only having one certified hit ("I Can Bagg It Up") Nate has been able to continue releasing albums and working the chittlin' circuit quite regularly. Like his other sets you will like this new 10-song set if you like his past work and/or his unremarkable singing voice. For the rest of us we might find a cut or two that interests us. The first single, the lackluster "2 Step", isn't catching on as I write. There's more slow jams than usual here. Being he's not a singer, fairly well-arranged numbers like "Tell It" and the Tyrone Davis-inspired "Been There" sound like songwriting demos. LISTEN Luther Lackey "I Should've Stayed Scared" (***). Three years is a longtime between cds in the modern "Southern Soul" world, but Lackey hasn't dropped music under his own name since 2005 when he enjoyed a steady run with his hit single "I'm Scared Of Gettin' Caught". In the meantime he's had songs appear on other projects (most notably O.B. Buchana). Though released on Ecko Records this set was 100% written, played and produced by Lackey himself. Overall it's more consistent than it's predecessor (2005's "I'm Talking To You"), parsed out between Funk ("You Dog (Ate My Cat)", "Leave Home Kind Of Love"), bumps ("I Don't Care Who's Gettin' It"), slow R & B jams ("Number Two", "She's Tired Of Me", title cut) and a lil' Blues ("New Orleans Blues"). LISTEN Mr. Sam "Voicemail" (*** 1/2) Sam Fallie, aka Mr Sam, had two of the best songs out in 2006/2007. Both "Lookin' 4 Love" and "12 Steps For Cheaters" garnered a ton of airplay. Both also appear on this otherwise new collection. He's already hit the charts with a sequel to "12 Steps", the ballad "Voicemail", which features Floyd Taylor. In fact there seems to be an emphasis on the slower to midpaced variety here, from the creepin' "Back Home", Urban AC "Leave Him" and "Picking Up Pieces"- as these are the best cuts here. The second single appears to be the Funky (in a Michael Jackson meets Bobby Rush sorta way) tribute "Rush N' You". Cool stuff, especially the "look at her" hook (anyone who's seen a Bobby Rush show will get it). So while there's no song in the league of 'Lookin' 4 Love" or "12 Steps" this is no sophomore slump for the artist who was named "Best New Male Artist" in Blues Critic's annual readers poll. LISTEN The Soul Children "Still Standing" (*** 1/2). You could just as easily called this the new J. Blackfoot album because the throaty one sings lead on nearly all the tracks, often joined by Queen Ann Hines, Norman Wets , Cassandra Graham and a cameo by Toni Green. Both Blackfoot and West were part of the original Stax Records line up. Hines and Graham are standing in the roles of Anita Lewis and Shelbra Bennet. The foursome logged 11 charting singles on Billboard's R & B charts from 1968 to 1978, most notably "Hearsay" and "I'll Be The Other Woman", which both crossed over to the pop charts as well (at #44 and #36 respectively). Blackfoot (born John Colbert) hasn't lost any of his powerful rasp and fairly tears it up on the yearning ballads "Long Ride Home" and "Love You For Life" (featuring the dynamite Toni Green) and "More Than A Woman" Other than the strong live version of "The Sweeter He Is" the second half, beginning with the clumsy "Too Hot To Hold" is noticeably inferior. But not by much. This is a solid "Modern/Retro" whatever you-wanna-call-it Soul album.
Copyright 2008 by Blues Critic Media unless indicated otherwise. May be used if web address www.bluescritic.com and company name are included. |
