LP Review: Self-Titled by Heath Green and the Makeshifters

Heath Green and the Makeshifters

In 2017 is the art of making an album dead?

Many times it appears to me that there are major artists that simply do not care about making an album.

James Leg sees his records as sides of albums...so he makes two mini albums each time I suppose.

Far more often than should be allowed, listening to forty five minutes of music by a single artist instead of being a seven course meal, ends up being a trip to the buffet at the casino.

Don't get me wrong, the casino buffet in my hometown here...you can get sashimi and steak and all you can eat at that. So, I'm a big fan of buffets, but there's a difference between eating a meal of wholly disconnected courses and having a proper meal.

LP Review: "Let It Slide" by Mark Porkchop Holder

Let It Slide

May I be candid with you for a moment?

My earliest memories are living in the, then uncivilized, suburbs with a man I knew as my father. As my age increased, I could no longer escape that this man was my step-father, but there was never any question in my mind about my place in my family.

Well, fast forward about a decade and this man and an old woman were sitting on the couch in my living room telling me how much they loved and missed me.

Well, that's a kind of a strange thing from two complete strangers to me. In a couple years' time my home was living with them and my time in Illinois began with my father's family.

They were blood, but for the most part, they were never family. The experience that I'd been hoping for never happened, except for with one small segment of this family. My aunt and her husband. These two people, upon meeting them, we had that moment, That feeling of knowing where I came from. On both sides of my family, I'm the black sheep, and not to say that in a disparaging way, but I've always been different even in my own home.

Album Review: "Chief" by Talmud Beach

Chief

Recently I had a lovely time with a friend of mine and his wife. He'd invited my wife and I over for dinner and an evening of conversation, laughter, beers, and records.

Jokingly...He was asked if I should bring my Carcass records? Well, my buddy's not really metal at all and his wife is certainly less so.

After we discussed it, Kaki King, The Hiders, and Labors were all under my arm when we arrived. My six pack of Michelob Golden Light Draft was in my other hand.

Many folks have this impression of me that all of my music is hail Satan this and Rock'n'Roll All Nite that. In all honesty, that's very untrue. Perhaps you've noticed the new header photo I recently posted on all of my social media pages and this very blog. There's nearly no metal in that slab of vinyl.

With that in mind, let's check out something from the Heartland.

Album Review: "Below The Belt" by James Leg

Below The Belt

I'm not sure how honest I should be here, but oh, well you know I stand by my words.

This is a very hard review for me. It's hard because I want to be objective, but when you're reviewing someone whose work you just really love...

I mean I don't want to hit Joe Buck territory here! My St. Louis people know what that's all about right. Joe Buck on a national broadcast when the Cards are playing....

You know.

James Leg AKA The Reverend AKA John Wesley Myers of The Black Diamond Heavies, and he's probably got another four or five more aliases...Well we all know what his deal is. If you don't...

Keep reading.

Album Review: "Demon Blues" by Datura4

Demon Blues

Let's talk debut records.

Today we're talking about a band from Australia. Frankly, it's been a long time since we've talked about anyone from that side of the earth.

Too long.

We're looking a group of players who've been around the block a bit in other bands....The Stems, You Am I, etc. Honestly, I wasn't familiar with any of those acts.

They were described as fuzzy, lo-fi, garage rock, etc. You know the stuff that real rock'n'roll is made of.

Nowadays, these fellows have created a new band that focuses on lo-fi rock and psychedelic blues, as I think evidenced by the title of the album. It's also worth mentioning that we're looking at another title from Alive-Natural Sound....such a great label.

Album Review: "Wild Boars and Trains" by Johnny B Beast

Wild Boars and Trains 

Let's again celebrate the universal language that is music.

Close your eyes and think about blues.

When I do that, I see a very smoky bar with someone playing a guitar up front and singing, but how much of that can you see now?

I can't name many places in my town where I can go see a man singing his heart out. Follow the path, the Blues started in the American south, moved the Tennessee, and on to Chicago.

From Chicago to London and all points beyond. Americans took back the Blues from the English, and now we're looking a man from the former Soviet Republic, Latvia playing his own brand of the Blues.

I can't tell you much about his homeland other than naming off a few NHL hockey players here and there, but I can tell you he's got some blues to share with you.

Album Review: "Son of Boogie Woogie" by Ron Thompson

Son of Boogie Woogie

"I'm in the music business. I spend all day not making money!" says the smarmy manager in a recent MC Chris sketch.

What if there was a record label that wasn't about making money? That was a non-profit organization?

Well, meet The Little Village Foundation.

That's just what they're doing...how cool is that?

Well, let's get on with it. Today's album review is Ron Thompson.

The man himself is not new to the scene. Stevie Ray Vaughan was once counted among Thompson's fans.

In the before time, he cut some singles for the legendary Chess Records. Here today we have some new music by the man and it shouldn't be missed by any fans of the Blues.

Album Review: "Death Angel" by Dreadlords

Death Angel

The best thing about running this little blog is when I get to hear something that's totally unlike anything else in this world.

And that is just what I'm listening to today.

This album features Blues and Americana.

Both of these genres are having rebirths the likes of which most people never saw coming. Pokey LaFarge, The Decemberists, and hell even Robert Plant are playing Americana and Blues.

Today's review subjects hail from Pennsylvania and come from two different bands, T.O.M.B. and Panther Modern.

 The Dreadlords are Brian Zimmerman on banjo, Samantha Viola on drums, bells, and other ritual instruments, and J. Gannon on vocals. Really, it's a strange line up of instruments for some very strange music.

Album Review: "Scorched Earth Policy" by Brother Dege

Scorched Earth Policy

Few things are better to me than new music.

The subject of today's review has just released an album, or digital mixed tape, that's available for immediate purchase and download.

Brother Dege, aka Dege Legg, has been in the game for a little while now. He's been touring and recording since 2009.

His music was used by Quentin Tarantino for the movie Django Unchained.

Clearly, he's knocking on doors and getting noticed out there. He's described as "Cajun Blues," and I can certainly get behind that. He's a very unusual artist and that's pretty cool.

The current release is a mammoth 19 track undertaking chock full of three kinds of recordings: Studio, Demos, and Field Recordings. He certainly has released a giant pile of music.

"More Primitive" by Lonesome Shack

 There are record labels that when I hear that they have an album coming that I know that I'm already interested in what it is.

Alive Natural Sound fits that bill.

Lonesome Shack is a blues trio based out of Seattle, Wash., but it would never be apparent to anyone listening.

In some ways, it's very nice when things do not change. When a style of music remains rooted in its past and holds onto the feeling, the power, and the structure, then you have tradition.

They tow the lines between 12 bar blues, boogie blues, and country blues, and all points within. Blues has had a bit of a renaissance over the last few years, but mostly Chicago blues with long solos, but this is very different than that.

"The Good Life" by John the Conqueror

John the Conqueror is a blues band based out of Mississippi or Philadelphia, depending on your concept of time and space.

Either way, this group has only been together since 2010 and the Michael Gardner's only been playing drums since that time just as Pierre Moore started singing at the same time by plugging a microphone into a practice amp. Along the way they started belting out blues and bassist, Ryan Lynn was brought into the fold. This rounded out their duo into a full band which they named after the folkloric slave hero.

The Good Life is the sophomore record of this very young band. What is truly amazing is how quickly this whole thing has come together for this band of friends. Pierre and Michael have been friends since childhood, and the quickly brewed friendship with Ryan is what got him into the band as it were.

"Rock Them Back To Hell!" by Left Lane Cruiser

Rock Them Back To Hell

It has been awhile since we've heard from the psychobilly Blues duo from Fort Wayne, Indiana (Home of the Komets! The last and only time I was in Fort Wayne for more than a fill up was in April of 2001 to see the Missouri River Otters RIP play the Fort Wayne Komets...good times.)

It's been about a year and a half since any  new music of theirs has crossed my desk and into my iTunes, but it was a killer album with old friend, James Leg. One the greatest things about this band is that they are one of the most hard working outfits in the business today.

When they are not in the studio, they're on the road. These two guys are just a pair of amazing road dogs. In the time that they have been on my radar, they have played in St. Louis at least four times for very reasonable pricing.

"Chillicothe Fireball" by The Hooten Hallers

 This album is a little bit on the old side, but you will not be robbed of it!

This is the sophomore release of Columbia, MO's most favored sons, The Hooten Hallers.  Their first record, Greetings From Welp City, was superb, so I had high hopes for the trio, formerly a pair from Columbia.

It had felt like some time since they had announced work on a new album and now, when it's finally in my hands to peruse, but this is a group that tours more than most of us go to work.  As of this writing, they have about thirty concert days set for the next five weeks.

These folks are quite the hardworking band and they are not living the glamorous life on the road full of groupies, blow, and trashed hotel rooms, but driving themselves from gig to gig, and often times taking turns sleeping with the drums while someone else takes a turn at the wheel.

"Seesaw" by Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa

Here is the latest review of Joe Bonamassa's  work that has been covered here. (About three other albums have been missed in the interim as this man never, ever stops working for more than about 47 seconds at a time. He's like the James Franco of the music industry.) This would be the "sophomore" effort with this on again off again collaborator, Beth Hart.

Their first album left me, I don't want to say cold, but wanting. It was a bit hard to divine precisely what they were doing and why they were doing it together. Perhaps my listening was not as thorough as it could have been, but this review is now about "Don't Explain."

As silly as this is to say, Joe Bonamassa is one of my favorite modern guitar heroes. Yes, he's been around for about a dozen years now and has released more music in that time than anyone, save Buckethead, but that guy doesn't count in any normal way, and we've lost the plot.

Album Review: "Super Session" by Bloomfield, Kooper, and Stills

Super Session

This is a first look at a classic album for me. As has been mentioned in other posts, I play a Gibson Les Paul, poorly. I've also joined a Les Paul community online and from that community many new artists have made their ways into my library.

One of the guys whose name is bandied about frequently is Mike Bloomfield. Well, he has not been played on my local classic radio stations in St. Louis, so his music never made it to my ears.

It was suggested to me that I purchase this album. Well, honestly, I'm still not terribly familiar with whom Al Kooper is, but I think everybody knows who Stephen Stills is. Recently Stephen Stills was profiled in Guitar World for his boxed set and that has also piqued my interest.

"Now Honey, Now Baby, Now Listen..." by White Trash Blues Revival

Remember when you were just a little one and you built musical instruments because, hell, you were only eight and it was fun. Personally, I built some "drums" out of two pieces of plywood and used a pair of swizzle sticks  (remember those?) as drum sticks. They worked great because they had little balls on the end of one side...JUST LIKE REAL DRUM STICKS!

Well, imagine if you were a professional musician and at a bar you frequent/play frequently that they were having a best of the worst bands contest. Would you ever conceive of calling your buddies and asking them to create something horrific as a joke. Like the drummer not even playing drums, but an empty beer kg, a bucket, and a cardboard box instead? Or the guitarist not even using a cigar box guitar, but a skateboard with pickups? Well that's what Sausage Paw of Left Lane Cruiser did. It worked so well that after a 20 minute set, they were booked for real and a band was born.

"Lickety Split"by Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Now this is some exciting stuff to me. Do you recall The Slide Brothers review from a couple months back? This would be the man that could be qualified as their mentor. Robert Randolph was the first person to bring the sacred steel guitar outside of the churches and into the public view, but his music is very different than that of the Slide Brothers.

This could quickly turn into five hundred words comparing and contrasting these two albums and it very well shouldn't be, so the last comparison will be whereas The Slide Brothers play bluesy hymns, Robert Randolph and the Family Band play wide open blues influenced rock.

Instead of Robert's slide guitar being the primary instrument, it's one of many instruments, though featured and this album features a great many guitar solos, both by Robert and Brett.

Album Review: "Man In Motion" by Warren Haynes

Another foray into the blues has to be made. Warren Haynes certainly fits that bill, so you're welcome?

His is a name that is bandied about by people who are not me along with his other band, Gov't Mule. Before getting this record though, you would have never heard me mention him before and had you mentioned him to me, I'd probably have dismissed it out of hand, because I was stupid.

Knowing that guitarists tend to enjoy Mr. Haynes's  music, there was some excitement in the offing for me. Though I really do love shredders, it's also very nice to hear some down home emotive leads, and Mr. Haynes has that in spades.

About 30 years ago, this would have been called a rhythm and blues record, but nowadays it's just electric blues. Warren is accompanied by what could be described as a multitude of musicians for this album.

Album Review: "Living The Blues" by Canned Heat

Some time back, I did a review on Hooker'n'Heat by John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat. Since then my love of the blues has really become a thing. In the time between then and now, I have gotten a bit more by John Lee Hooker and now it's time to turn my attention towards the other half of that album, Canned Heat.

The first Canned Heat record that I'm going to look at is their 1968 Double Album, "Living The Blues." In the current day and age where an album can be anywhere from 30 to 80 minutes on a single disc, if even on a disc at all, it can be easy to forget that there was a time when albums were limited to a mere 45 minutes and that when a band released more material than that, the records had to come with two discs. Mostly double album sets have been the purview of live albums, but there are few things cooler in this world than a properly done double record. Thankfully, this one does not disappoint.

Album Review: "Robert Randolph Presents the Slide Brothers" by The Slide Brothers

When one is on a musical journey there will always be twists and turns. Sometimes and the idea of an album will take the listener out of their comfort level. In this case, The Slide Brothers are presented. These four gentlemen grew up playing sacred steel guitar in their churches.

This is where comfort zones are tested. They have decided to break with tradition and bring this music to the masses. Popular music is so very rarely equated with religion. Obviously there was Creed and for us older folks, Jars of Clay. As a child of the 80's, it's hard for me to forget the attacks music took.

Even though the inspiration is quite different than the bands that took the attacks, there could be a little blow back, but there is no need to delve too deeply into that here. This album is a very esoteric collection of music.