Review: George Thorogood and the Destroyers - The Dirty Dozen

Label: Capitol/EMI

Released: July 28, 2009

George Thorogood's principle charm is that he plays the blues for people who aren't really all that blue. In many ways, he's a classic blues artist from his shuffling riffs to his beer-soaked voice, except, at his best...well, he's kinda fun. Thorogood's latest release, The Dirty Dozen, is at least sporadically successful in that way.

The album is grouped into sides as if it were on vinyl (and it is through his website). The first side is all new material. While it's mostly made up of run-of-the-mill blues and rockabilly, two tracks, "Born Lover" and "Let Me Pass," find Thorogood at his tongue-in-cheek, good-time best, making this a welcome addition for his diehard fans. The second "side" is made up of fan favorites, three of which were out-of-print in the US, but none of which is as exciting as one would expect of a "favorite." Like the first side, these tracks may be of great interest to his serious fans, but offer little for the rest of us.

While the album does have a couple of standouts and no real bombs, it lacks the excitement of his best work. George Thorogood is still more of "greatest hits" artist and The Dirty Dozen merely contains a few more contenders for that kind of release.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 6/10
Dylan: 5/10
Aretha: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

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Review: John Scofield - Piety Street

Label: Emarcy

Released: March 31, 2009

Over the years, John Scofield has worked with a who's who of jazz and fusion artists. He has established himself as one of the top names in jazz guitar and is almost as well known outside of jazz circles as he is within. He's one of those artists who finds himself in the unique position of being able to try whatever he wants. While that position many times finds artists releasing ego-driven nonsense, Scofield chooses instead to make an album that is an interesting experiment, showcasing the music far more than the formidable players who made it.

Piety Street find the jazz guitarist and his band making bluesy renditions of gospel songs. More than a few times, it fails to break with the conventionality of straightforward blues, sucking much of the gospel elements he supposedly wanted to capture out of the music. However, Scofield and company more often find a place where jazz, blues and gospel sing in unison. Once or twice, it's downright amazing as on "It's a Big Army," a Scofield original that sounds like a rediscovered old-time gospel gem, but generally the album is fairly understated, illustrating the band's total trust in the music itself.

Piety Street is certainly not Scofield's best work, but it is an interesting change-up. Rather than either sticking to the tried-and-true or running off on some silly ego trip, he chooses to explore some of the music he loves even if it isn't the genre for which he's best known. He assembled a top-notch band to navigate this musical adventure with him and the result is, a few weak spots aside, a very interesting listen.

Ratings
Satriani: 10/10
Zappa: 8/10
Dylan: 7/10
Aretha: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

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Review: Cephas and Wiggins - Richmond Blues

Label: Smithsonian Folkways

Released: July 29, 2008

I was scared when I was first asked to review Richmond Blues. Most of what I've heard from Smithsonian Folkways has been extraordinary, but most of the music I've discovered on their label is classic stuff that's passed the test of time. It's hard to go wrong with Lead Belly or Paul Robeson or Woody Guthrie. But a new blues recording by a couple of guys I've never even heard of? I don't know...

In fairness, I have to put my bias on the table. I don't much like the blues. I went to a cut-rate music school in the late '80s whose mission statement might as well have been, "We'll teach you to play fast." And what's the easiest thing to play when you're learning how to play fast? Yep. The blues. You haven't lived until you've sat in a room full of long-haired Norwegian men pick-sweeping their way through a Muddy Waters song.

Needless to say, it soured me on the blues. And on long-haired Norwegian men, but that's a story for another day.

So after months of ignoring emails from the label asking me if I liked the CD, I finally accepted the fact that I had. To. Listen.

And hot dog! Listening is actually pretty fun!

First of all, this is pretty simple stuff, at least by Norwegian long-hair standards. It's an acoustic guitar/harmonica duo, with vocals. No drums, no bass, no amplifiers, no keys, and certainly no 32nd notes or whammy bars or any of that crap. The harmonica is much closer to Sonny Terry than it is Blues Traveller, and the guitar and voice remind me of Lead Belly. Not that Cephas & Wiggins sound like Lead Belly, but that's a much closer comparison than anyone like BB King or Muddy Waters or Stevie Ray Vaughn.

For more than 30 years, Cephas & Wiggins have kind of been the international diplomats of a style called Piedmont blues, because they've traveled all over the world playing their music and introducing the traditional sound to new audiences. I wouldn't know Piedmont blues if it came up and bit me on the leg, but I can't imagine anybody doing the music more justice than these two men. The interplay between the harmonica and the voice is awesome. There's a great deal of call and response happening, and it's just a lot of fun hearing what I can only describe as a conversation between Cephas' voice and Wiggins' harmonica.

I'm a bit surprised by the fact that most of the songs are slow or mid-tempo pieces. From what I read in the liner notes (which alone are worth the price of the CD), Piedmont blues was popular at black house parties and social gatherings in the South and Mid-Atlantic. This isn't music I can really imagine dancing to, though, which means either Cephas & Wiggins have spent too much time playing folk festivals and universities instead of Saturday night house parties, or my days as a glowstick-waving raver have irreversably corrupted my idea of dance music. Most of these songs make me imagine sitting on the porch with a jug of hooch while I listen intently to the music. (For what it's worth, I have never drank 'hooch' in my life, be it in a jug or a glass or a paper cup. But I bet some hooch would taste mighty fine with Richmond Blues.)

This is a good CD that is very different from what most people, especially those of us who were born and raised on rock, think of as the blues. One additional appeal of this CD is that, as a rock fan, I can hear this music's influence on groups like White Stripes. Richmond Blues is definitely worth a listen, even if you don't like the blues.

Ratings
Satriani: 7/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 8/10
Aretha: 9/10
Overall: 8/10

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Video: Left Lane Cruiser - Wash It

Here's some hot Texas boogie...not courtesy of ZZ Top!

Review: Van Morrison - Keep It Simple

Label: Lost Highway

Released: April 1, 2008

Van Morrison has done some of his best work over the last decade or so. The old curmudgeon has shown that he still knows how to put his entire soul into song, whether he's making an album that concentrates on folk or soul or even skiffle. That makes Keep It Simple kind of puzzling. Everything he's been bringing to his music for over 40 years is strangely absent here.

First of all, there is entirely too much blues on this album. Morrison has a soul voice. It's rich and smooth and deceptively powerful. Blues is neither as clean nor as subtle so it robs Morrison of his strengths. One of those strengths is his ability to know just how much to give and how much to withhold from a song. It comes both from knowing the song and trusting himself. Instead, on this album, he seems detached from the songs and he over-trusts himself. That arrogance leads him to go through the motions rather than get into the songs. Sure, he loosens up on a few, like "That's Entrainment" and "End of the Land," but most of the album is stiff with Morrison stumbling through music from which he's a thousand miles away.

It has long been said that Morrison has never shown much regard for his fans, though he almost always cared about his music. But not here. He's just going through the motions and he's not the kind of singer that can get away with that. He needs the subtleties that come with intimacy, but this album has no love, only a cold feeling of obligation.

Ratings
Satriani: 6/10
Zappa: 5/10
Dylan: 5/10
Aretha: 4/10
Overall: 5/10

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Video: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - "Stop and Think It Over"

Check out Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles' new video for "Stop and Think It Over". If you aren't familiar with their, here's a review their latest album, Diamonds in the Dark.

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Review: The Mystix - Blue Morning

Label:

Released: October 9, 2007

While the resumes of some members the Mystix may look impressive (Jerry Lee Lewis, Ben E King, Peter Wolf, even studio work at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals), don't be fooled. This is a group of session players, not a real band. They do play well together as session players often do, but there is little originality or real heart in the music.

Sure, Jo Lily's voice is perfect for their light blues and it's hard to find any technical fault in the guitar parts or the rhythm section. The trouble is, the blues shouldn't be perfect. That's its beauty and the Mystix rob it of that. A few tracks do come off better than others. "Change in Jane," for instance, is more of a ballad than it is straight blues, but they drop a bit of emotion on it and it's believable. Then they follow it up with "New Orleans," a song so chock full of cliches that I suspect they've only been there as tourists. That really illustrates their biggest problem: They do what's expected of them. There are no surprises on Blue Morning. Even though everyone in the band plays at a level where they could take off at any time, they choose instead to play it safe.

For those that have some fondness for bluesy pop and don't want any challenges, the Mystix are for you. They're the Fabulous Thunderbirds without the heart or the charm. They're George Thoroughgood without a sense of humor or a real appreciation for the emotive nature of the blues. I'm sure this album is for someone, but not me.

Rating: 4/10

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Review: Radio Moscow - s/t

Label: Alive Natural Sound Records

Released: February 27, 2007

Radio Moscow is a modern day power trio whose influence reaches back to the days when the sub-genre first reared its head with the likes of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream. Radio Moscow don't ignore everything that's happened since the late 60s, but their influences don't stretch too far beyond that time.

The thick fuzzy sounds of Hendrix are the biggest influence on Radio Moscow's debut and like their mentor, they have that innate ability to really feel their music. They play as a band not as individuals. The vocals aren't superb, but they don't hold anything back either and while no one is a great technician, the songs' riffs and grooves are monsters. They also draw some of their fat guitar tone from early ZZ Top and Wishbone Ash (when both were good) and throw in some of the bluesy trippiness of LA Woman-ear Doors for good measure. The acoustic blues of "Lickskillet" is as good as anything this side of Zeppelin III. Radio Moscow also brings a bit of swing to their rock n roll swagger, giving the album very subtle hints of jazz. In general, Radio Moscow plays loosely, but hold everything together in a strong groove. But the album's finale, "Fuse," just rips loose and instead of drawing to a close, they explode! It makes the whole album seem like a live set rather than a studio album.

This is blues rock as it was meant to be played, not as it was watered down by the hairspray-conscious acts of the 80s. The production, courtesy of the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, is deliberately raw and the album has a decidedly live energy. However, unlike a lot of lo-fi recordings, this one is masterfully done, rough but free of noisiness and clipping.

If this was Radio Moscow's third or fourth album, I'd still be impressed with both their energy and their execution, but this is the debut! It may be a revival, but it is most certainly worthy of the past into which it taps. It's down to earth approach makes it easily accessible for anyone who simply likes their rock n roll a little on the raw side.

Rating: 7/10

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Review: Various Artists - Down Home Saturday Night

Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Released: July 31, 2007

As the liner notes describe, all across the country on a Saturday night music and good times go hand in hand and always have. American roots music, from bluegrass to zydeco, has been an influence on modern music as well as a vital part of life for many, many people. It's the latter that this compilation tries to capture.

Down Home Saturday Night crosses time and genres, mining the Smithsonian Folkways archive to create a collection of what is essentially an American roots music party. From the opening track, John Sebastian and the J Band (yeah, the "J" is for "jug") doing the old classic folksong "Minglewood Blues," to "Uncle Bud," the zydeco closer recorded by Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds, every track can be taken on two levels, educational and enjoyable. Over the course of the album, cajun, bluegrass, jump blues, conjunto, Western swing (courtesy of no less than the Texas Playboys, masters of the genre), and country are all represented without the album seeming the least bit haphazard. Among all 15 excellent tracks, the New Lost City Ramblers version of "Bill Morgan and His Gal" still manages to stand out. The song itself has a clever comedy that eludes today's hip, cool indie artists along with a sing along chorus that is irresistible. Complaining about his spendthrift girl, Bill Morgan sings, "You might have known me pretty long / But sure have got my initials wrong. / My name is Morgan, but it ain't J.P.," over great old string band backup. It's more infectious than any of today's pop songs.

This may be seen as a label sampler by some, but that misses the point. Typically, a compilation like this would focus on a particular genre, be it folk or blues or zydeco or any other, as its theme. While that's a logical way to approach it, Smithsonian Folkways understands there's an even more fundamental connection, the spirit of the music. With that understanding, they create what may be the ultimate party album for people who love music. Sure, there's something to be learned on Down Home Saturday Night, but the album is such a good time, you don't even realize it's an education.

Rating: 10/10

Review: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark

Label: Sugar Hill Records

Released: June 12, 2007

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles do more than just channel the past. True, Diamonds in the Dark is partially images of days gone by, but the package is fresh. Touching on every raw influence of rock music, the end result is an album that is both clean and warm, touching the old, but very much new.

The album centers on Sarah Borges voice which is rich and warm. She can use it across the genres the album touches and her passion is just as clear when she's subtle as when she's brash. She has similar qualities to Natalie Merchant, but Borges' individuality is so strong that the comparison only becomes vividly clear once (on "Modern Trick"). The band is more than just a backup for Borges' voice. The rhythms can be driving or sublime or anything in between, setting the tone as it changes along the way. The pedal steel plays an integral role throughout, sharing a lot of the understated movement of the vocals and bringing out a lot of the songs' color.

Diamonds in the Dark clearly digs deep into the core of rock n roll, coming up with rockabilly, blues, soul, bubblegum, country and punk. "The Day We Met" has the punk-edged rockabilly perfected by X (even more than the album's actual cover of X's "Come Back to Me"). Punk energy is even more prevalent on the garagey "Diablito" and "Stop and Think It Over" applies that same punk rock edge to 60s pop. Borges pulls off "False Eyelashes" with all the confidence of Dolly Parton's original and her own restless energy. The pedal steel is just superb on this as well as "Modern Trick." Even the comparatively average country ballads "Around 9" and "Belle of the Bar" could stand on their own. The album finishes up with another cover, this time Tom Waits' "Blind Love," whose sparse echoey slide and rimshots provide the perfect atmosphere for Borges range and control without constraining her.

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles have produced an album that burns slow and warm with their passion and love, not for the music of the past, but for the roots of the present. There's a difference between those two, because one is just a revival, but Sarah Borges and company show us that even the roots are still alive and growing today.

Rating: 9/10