Jesper Lindell – Everyday Dreams

A debut album packed with warm sentiments and timeless soul 'n' blues.

There are so many artists around today who take inspiration from the classic soul and blues era of the fifties and sixties that the vintage tag has become almost meaningless. Timeless would be a more apt description and one that fits well for this debut album by Sweden's Jesper Lindell. Full of that subtle sympathetic musicianship we've come to expect from Swedish musicians, Everyday Dreams is equal parts classic mid '60s Stax/Volt and gently rolling blues, with shades of Van Morrisson's Tupelo Honey and artists such as Leon Bridges, The Black Keys and Ray LaMontagne.

It's a record full of warm sentiments and soulful vocals. Lindell's blue-eyed soul voice that takes centre stage and carries the album from start to finish, equally at home on the uptempo numbers as it is on the album's softer, more intimate tracks. Lindell has obviously immersed himself in that great wealth of music that America has produced. Everyday Dreams draws from the deep well of soul, blues, country, folk and gospel. Admirably Lindell doesn't try to reinvent the wheel. There are no boundary-pushing production techniques or ill-advised genre mash-ups, just great songwriting, well-produced and great performances from all the musicians involved.

Perfect Sunday evening listening for these dark winter nights. Get your fire lit, crack open a bottle of something nice and kick back with your loved one with this album playing. As Lindell sings on 'France' - “I'll I wanna do is spend my time drinking wine with you.” What could be better.

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Heath Green & The Makeshifters - Heath Green & The Makeshifters

 (This review first appeared in issue #65 of Shindig! magazine.)

Alive Natural Sound CD / LP

Heath Green possesses a voice that's not only lived-in, it may also have hosted a fair share of all-night house parties. Gritty, gravelly and full of that good ol' southern soul, the man sure as hell can sing! Based in Birmingham, Alabama, he's been the city's best-kept musical secret for the last two decades. He and his killer band make a fiery hybrid of soul, blues, rock and gospel, breathing new life into the region's musical heritage and traditions.

Alternating between Saturday night revelry and Sunday morning redemption with the trials of grown-up relationships thrown in, this earthy, blue-eyed and blue-collar soul recalls Jerry Lee Lewis, Otis Redding, The Faces, Joe Cocker and The Black Crowes yet is beholden to none. Equally adapt at guttural howls and soulful sophistication, quite why Mr. Green has not broken through to wider recognition is a mystery. With this album his dues must surely come.

Click here for Heath Green & The Makeshifters' website.

The Blues Against Youth - Apprentice

One man, three chords, twelve songs and a few pals! Third LP from Rome's one-man blues band!

The third LP from Italy's Gianni TBAY is that rarest of beasts, a blues album that appeals to purists and neophiles alike. Firmly rooted in delta and country blues but infused with a 21^st century suss and swagger, it's suitable for back-porch or boutique festival alike. This time round the one-man band has enlisted some backing from his musician pals to flesh out his take on gutbucket blues.

TBAY's primitive beats and sophisticated lyrics, honed via relentless gigging, are intact throughout the album's twelve tracks, but benefit from the input of the extra musicians. (Check out the virtuoso guitar shredding on 'Boundless' or wailing harp on 'Barbed Times'.) Unlike a lost of blues records there's enough variation to keep the listener interested; party blues, stomping blues, travelling blues, plaintive slide-guitar laments, it's all there! Equally at home playing Southern boogie (Somebody Settles Down) or paying tribute to his country influences via the album's sole cover (Hank Williams' Lonesome Whistle Blow) TBAY's latest outing has a train load of authenticity and spirit. Hitch a ride why dontcha!

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The Bloodhounds - Let Loose! (OUT NOW!)

One for the greasers! Skiffle, beat, dirty rock 'n' roll, & hubcap blues feature on the debut LP by LA's Bloodhounds.

An groovy album that may came out towards the end of last year was Let Loose by LA's rock 'n' skifflers The Bloodhounds. With a nose for stripped-back bluesy rock 'n' roll, honed while busking on the sidewalks of downtown LA, the band have been helped in the studio by producer Arthur Alexander (The Poppees, Sorrows). The resulting album captures that street energy and adds some extra sonic punch.

Anyone lucky enough to have witnessed their impromptu busking gigs must surely have had a real treat. You can imagine this band whipping up a storm, on one hand they're a high octane jug band, on the other a punked up blues 'n' beat outfit. The music is a stripped-back, energetic romp, fuelled by spirit and enthusiasm more than technical ability, and all the better for that.

As well as the classic two guitars, bass and drums set up, The Bloodhounds make the most of cheap instruments and household objects. Washboards, banjos and kazoos sit happily in the mix. With a sound roooted in '60s rhythm and blues there's also a hint of punk. The overall effect is akin to Joey Ramone fronting The Pretty Things.

The Wolf pays homage to bluesman Howlin' Wolf, with guitar parts based around Hubert Sumlin's Spoonful guitar lick. Elsewhere there's echoes of Star Club era Beatles, Lonnie Donegan, early Stones and the afore-mentioned Pretty Things.

The band are something of an anomaly in today's pro-tools era, and go against the grain of modern polished pop, but those of us in search of the true spirit of rock 'n' roll will dig it!

The Bloodhounds are -

Aaron “Little Rock” Piedraita – rhythm guitar/vocals

Johnny Santana – bass/banjo/harp/vocals

Branden Santos – lead guitar/harp/vocals

Mark Schafler – drums/washboard/percussion/harp/kazoo/vocals

Click here for more on The Bloodhounds.

Wedge - S/T Debut LP

Berlin trio's riffing, rocking debut! For fans of Blue Cheer, Wolfmother and classic heavy rock!

Less than a year since they formed, Berlin power trio Wedge are releasing their debut album via Italy's Heavy Psych Sounds label. This self-titled platter finds the sweet spot where rock's convergent forms meet to share beers and a spliff, and ask “how're ya doin'?” On listening, it would seem psych, classic, blues, heavy, garage, metal and proto-punk are all doing fine.

Opening track Easy Chair is nowhere near as laid back as the title suggests. Instead it's a drummer's tour-de-force lightened by a lyrical vignette that's worthy of The Who circa '66. This twisted coming of age tale over riff-driven, psychedelic rock is broken up by a more introspective, Doors-esque mid section that's all the better for its sumptuous electric piano.

Looks 'n' Savvy is a swaggering garage-rocker reminiscent of Jet (remember them?), The Datsuns and other new rock revolutionaries of the early noughties. Whereas Makeyerselfree comes on like Oasis covering Stairway to Heaven (it's better than that sounds, believe me!)

For most of their inspiration however, the band look to heavy rock's late '60s/early '70s heyday, as evidenced on '61 SG (see video below), their ode to Gibson's classic guitar and weapon of choice for hard rockers from the '60s onwards. Judging by the tracks on their album, this particular SG is in worthy hands.

The band are touring in Germany throughout November and December in support of this release. If you get the chance go show some love.

Wedge are -

Kiryk Drewinski – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica

Holger “The Holg” Grosser – Drums & Percussion

David Götz – Bass, Organ, Electric Piano & Mellotron

Click here for more on Wedge.

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Handsome Jack - Do What Comes Naturally

The latest torch carriers for gritty, soulful blues release their debut LP.

The Blues is a wheel that keeps on turning, a gift that keeps on giving. The recent popularity of The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Seasick Steve et al, have made the blues newly accessible to mainstream ears. Unlike jazz it seems to have avoided becoming a dead form, ironically by not changing that much. The same three chords, same subject matter and same delivery have served it pretty well.

The latest band to breathe new life into this old form is Handsome Jack, a quartet from Buffalo, NY. Their debut album Do What Comes Naturally doesn't serve up anything particularly revolutionary but as the title suggests they make music that feels right, and feels good, from the blue-eyed soul burr of the vocals to the in-the-pocket funky rhythm section.

Unlike the White Stripes' punked-up take on the blues, or the Black Keys indie-funk makeover, Handsome Jack have opted for a more organic blues/soul reunification, one with it's roots in the deep southern states of Mississippi and Tennessee as opposed to the NY zip-code that Handsome Jack call home.

Much like the LPs Albert King made for Stax Records, the music here is laid-back, groove-laden and soulful. The band's roots in garage rock are betrayed by the record's bourbon-soaked rawness, but it's a blues record at heart, albeit one that owes as much to '70s funk and late '60s blues rockers Canned Heat as it does to the electrified Chicago blues of John Lee, Muddy and Wolf.

Produced by Zachary Gabbard of label-mates The Buffalo Killers, the record essentially captures the band's live sound with some subtle additions - sumptuous Hammond organ (courtesy of The Lemon Pipers' Bob Nave), the occasional harmonica solo, and some Sweet Inspirations-esque backing vocals. Do What Comes Naturally is a fine addition to the contemporary blues cannon and a disc that'll nicely soundtrack any blues house party.

Click here for more on Handsome Jack.

Muddy Waters Blues Band - Mud In Your Ear

  

First time on CD for this album of ragged, loose & funky blues from one of the genre's giants.

OK, so first the bad news – Muddy Waters does not sing on this album. Recorded with producer Alan Douglas in November 1967, at a time when Waters was still contracted to Chess Records, the vocal duties are shared between guitarist Luther 'Snake' Johnson and harmonica player Mojo Buford. There's a definite Muddy Waters stamp over the album however, with the man himself on guitar, adding those unmistakable embellishments, as well as having penned several of its tracks.

In other good news, this is the first time this album has had a CD release. The material contained originally came out as two separate vinyl releases, one featuring Johnson on vocals, the other featuring Buford. This coming together results in a bumper package for blues lovers. It's also one of those rare releases worth owning for the artwork, a Mati Klarwein painting depicts a trippy, beatific Waters emerging with his bouffant intact from some primordial gloop. Add to this the fact that the playing is superb and the band features the legendary Otis Spann on piano and things start to sound pretty promising.

Just check out the piano fills on the slow and mournful Remember Me, a track written by Waters and given a fine reading here. Elsewhere the Muddy Waters brand of electrified Chicago blues, though out of step with the time it was recorded in, appears in rude health and has aged well. Title track Mud In Your Ear is basically an instrumental reworking of Got My Mojo Working, and is quintessential Muddy Waters; proud, virile and driving. Other highlights include Johnson's almost stream of consciousness vocal on Long Distance Call, and Water's biting snarly solo on Coming Home Baby.

The album was recorded hot on the heels of the psychedelic Electric Mud, a record which Waters hated. No doubt with the resentment of Chess having forced him to make that album still fresh in his mind, on Mud In Your Ear the musicians sound like they're playing the music they love and believe in, and belief is an essential attribute in the blues. Thankfully passion and performance take precedence over perfection

For blues beginners seeking their first purchase of the mighty Muddy Waters, this album is not the one. A good entry point would be a compilation of his prime era Chess releases or the Johnny Winters produced comeback LP Hard Again. For blues fans in general however this is a fine album, with not a bad track on it. And despite Muddy not singing on the album, his personality and spirit permeates all the tracks, it sounds and feels like a Muddy Waters album. And you can't ask for more than that.