ROUND-UP: BLUES ROCK
Walter Trout
We’re All In This Together
Historically, the ‘all-star’ album is a turd dusted in glitter, more a triumph of synchronised diaries than songcraft. on
We’re all in This Together, Walter Trout has a bolder plan. The bluesman might roll out the big guns – mayall, Bonamassa, shepherd, landreth – but by writing an original song for each, he has created an album with personality and soul, that you’ll still be listening to when that Hollywood Vampires CD is being used as a budgie mirror.
on the album’s 14 tracks, Trout identifies each guest’s comfort zone then nudges them a little beyond. kenny Wayne shepherd is at his red line on the stinging stone-blues gonna Hurt like Hell. sonny landreth is palpably pushing himself on the 50s americana of ain’t goin’ Back. Blues
For Jimmy T is earthy and poignant, Trout saluting his late bass player over John mayall’s lusty harp, while mike zito gets the best moment, on country-pop strum
she listens To The Blackbird sing.
This album is the sound of pure camaraderie. and it’s a joy.
Marcus Malone
A Better Man
in recent times, Detroit bandleader marcus malone has been playing his a Better man album front-to-back live, which takes some balls and speaks volumes about his confidence in this material. There’s a whiff of career-best about these tracks, from the route-one muscle of Too long gone to the lighter touch and piano flourishes of shine Your
light – and for malone, that’s praise indeed.
Curse Of Lono
Severed
stealing their name from a Hunter s Thompson novel, curse of lono deal in atmosphere.
Five miles is the best slow-burner i’ve heard in ages, all throbbing bass and shivering squalls of slide. But they’re not afraid of a hook, either, and the handclap rhythms and fuzz-box electro of Pick Up The Pieces is one of the best ways to spend three minutes on spotify.
Various Artists
American Epic
not so much a box set as a paving slab, the five-CD american epic almost manages the impossible task of gathering together the seminal Us releases of the 1920s. The most atmospheric disc compiles 17 field recordings in pin-sharp fidelity, but the most exciting one traces new York’s contribution, exemplified by the supple twang of Big Bill Broonzy’s long
Tall mama.
Whitehorse
Panther In The Dollhouse
it’s a pleasure to watch Whitehorse not settling on a genre. The husband-and-wife duo’s excellent northern south Vol 1 was nominated for Best Blues album at the Junos, but here they head into icier, more cinematic waters, while saluting the Delta with the spidery stalk of
Trophy Wife. We’re hanging on to them by our fingernails, but this is impressive stuff.