My Amazon Reviews: The Black Keys "Turn Blue"

Psychedelic Stew
4 Out Of 5 Stars

While The Black Keys were always something of a glorified garage band, it's no surprise that they'd eventually delve in to the psychedelical forms of the 60's garage bands. Think "96 Tears" or "Journey To The Center of Your Mind." So the question isn't so much as what The Black Keys are doing with the spacy sounds that scatter through "Turn Blue," It's more like, "What took you so long?" Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, along with producer Danger Mouse, delve deep in the a psychedelic swamp and emerge with a mighty fine album that is sure to polarize. The album is still primarily the guitars and drums, but the crunch is replaced by woozy synths and female backing singers.

The opener, "Weight Of Love," puts it all out there. Straight up blues with touches of Pink Floyd spaciness, it's a mission statement. The band wants to expand their musical horizons and blow your mind at the same time. Ditto the single, "Fever." It's as sugary as it is spacy, while still pinned down by the guitar/drums of the Black Keys basic sound. Such mixtures run rampant all over "Turn Blue," be it the dreamy build up to a punchy "Bullet In The Brain" to the funky "10 Lovers," or the jungle drums of "It's Up To You Now," this album is The Black Keys tweaking their sound to a slightly different color palette.

But if you were missing the big guitars, then hang in there for the album's closer. "Gotta Get Away" has a big guitar hook raging on top of Danger Mouse's organ, landing the most basic rock on "Turn Blue." Complete with one of Dan's buzzing solos, it's just their way of saying they've still got their guts in the rock and roll of their previous albums. Love it or hate it, "Turn Blue" catches the Black Keys getting courageous enough to deliver an album that punches and floats, often in the same song.

     

My Amazon Reviews: ZZ Top "La Futura"

Forward into The Past
4 Out Of 4 Stars

ZZ Top are still best remembered for their flashy videos, that crazy car and the buzzed out synths riding atop songs about legs and sharp dressed men. What most forget is that they started as a Texas blues and boogie outfit, making the most of their three piece line-up. That led to such great albums and songs like "Tush," "Tejas" and "Fandango." "La Futura" is a look back to that era, with producer Rick Rubin nudging Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard towards s stripped down electric blues, letting the trio wail away like it was 1974.

That doesn't make "La Futura" a great album or a return to form, as they've been doing this music under the radar on discs like "Rhythmeen" and "Mescalaro," just without the hype. The sound is still instantly recognizable with Gibbons and Hill trading lead vocals and Gibbons' snarly guitar licks sounding exclusive to him. The songs are also appropriately snappy, with the growl of "Gotsta Get Paid" and "Have A Little Mercy" again sounding like no band except ZZ Top. And finally taking the shackles off of Frank Beard may be the best thing about "La Futura," as he can now freely whack his snare drums without worrying about a drum machine.

I guess what bums me out here are two things; that the songs all sound recycled from other ZZ Top tunes, and that the album barely clocks in at a 40 mins for 10 songs. With almost a decade between discs and the hype of Rubin behind the boards (one of the few times Gibbons has shared the bench with any other than Bill Ham), I was expecting something more. fans will enjoy this, non-fans will scracth their heads, while classic rock radio will Que up "Sharp Dressed Man" for another spin.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Alabama Shakes "Boys and Girls"

8.5 On the Richter Scale
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The debut from Alabama Shakes is a wall rattler. Fronted by a rock wailer named Brittany Howard, the band kicks in with a (sadly) low-fi amplifier buzz and a Tyrannosaurus stomp. Even with the primitive recording, there's no escaping that these four folks are the real deal, mixing their rock with R'n'B and Howard's force 10 voice. I was fortunate enough to catch them live at 2012's Newport Folk Festival and was so blown away that I had to get the CD as soon as I got home. They've got that much dynamism live, and "Boys and Girls" catches the better part of it.

Alabama Shakes are not a band you'll walk away from without an opinion. From the thunderous "Rise to The Sun" and the bluesy first single "Hold On," they exude personality and muscle. They also know how to work up a sweat (the Stones-like "Be Mine") or tease some Jack White humor (the brief story of a night gone hinky on "After The Party"). One almost hopes Jack White, who always seems to work magic with strong women in rootsy settings, gets a hold of them before someone slickens the band up for the sophomore effort. I'm already worried that the fans who have discovered this raw and young band (they've only been together for a couple of years) will be screaming sell-out once they get some polish. Frankly, that's something I think they need a little more of.

Just don't let that stop you from enjoying "Boys and Girls" now. Alabama Shakes make the most of their youth and Howard's raw talent. i am already wondering and hoping for what they grow into over time.

     

Newport Folk Festival Pictures!

Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman and Jackson Browne

Britanny of Alabama Shakes. This lady can wail.

Jim James of My Morning Jacket

The Lead Singer of Trampled by Turtles

Conor Oberst, Patty Griffin, Dawes, Tao Seeger and more here!

My Amazon Reviews: Bonnie Raitt "Slipstream"

All You Would Have Expected,
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Bonnie Raitt's third album this century, "Slipstream," is everything a Raitt fan would want. Her earthen, gritty voice, that great, blusey slide guitar of hers, some choice covers (Bob Dylan, Gerry Rafferty), selections from old friends (Joe Henry, Louden Wainwright III) and the longing attitude mixed with confident swagger that made her best records ("Nick of Time," "Give it Up") such long loved releases. "Slipstream" alternates between the blues she so loves - love the way she turns Dylan's "Million Miles" into a biting question of lover's remorse - and the punch she gives to "Used to Rule the World" and rocking "Split Decision."

Two more tracks here merit mention, Henry's "God Only Knows" and the late Gerry Rafferty's "Right Down The Line." Rafferty gets a subtle reggae pulse and is the obvious single, and does what most covers don't; equals the original. "God Only Knows" (not Brian Wilson's) is a hard knock piano ballad that Raitt (who lost both her parents prior to this album) gives such an emotive reading of that it closes the album perfectly. Time may have been hard leading up to the album itslef, but kind to Raitt's talents. "Slipstream" is a solid album, and will likely wear well as the years pass.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Tom Waits "Bad As Me"

One will never be as bad as Tom Waits 
5 Out of 5 Stars

A clattering bumpy ride of an album, this is Tom Waits at his visceral best. "Bad As Me" as the Waits persona as God's last drunken bluesman rising from the gutter to try and find what is better, even if even he knows it's all a myth. All you have to imagine is the man with the beaten suitcase at a train station, aware that baggage follows you everywhere you go, bit "maybe things will be better in Chicago." It's a theme that rolls along from beginning to end of "Bad As Me," with the final chorus of Auld Lang Syne fades from the lament of losers gathered on "New Year's Eve." It's a collection of songs worthy of Waits best albums, like "Rain Dogs," "Swordfishtromboines" or even early work like "Blue Valentine."

Tom has also assembled what could be his best band in many a year. Marc Ribot leads an all-star cast of guitarists, including Keith Richards and Los Lobos' David Hildago (who gets the best licks in the rocking "Let's Get Lost"). It's Ribot's typical pick and stab style that makes the greatest impression on the tougher numbers, including the exceptional "Hell Broke Luce." Punctuated by Ribot (and Richards) guitar snap, New Orleans Brass and sampled machine gun fire, Waits barks about the soldiers we've dumped in Iraq and Afghanistan and then forgotten.

"The Big **** bomb made me deaf,
A Humvee mechanic put his Kevlar on wrong?
I guarantee you'll meet up with a suicide bomb."

Then ends with the soldier/narrator home, blind, deaf and broke, cursing "What is next?" It could be the most powerful song he's ever written. Waits does have a sense of humor, though, and that comes through in the non-sequiturs that make up the title track, but goes a bit overboard when he quotes "Mr Jagger, and Mr Richards" while singing a song about getting "Satisfied" as Keith riffs away behind him. It's "Bad as Me's" only misfire, the rest of the album is just a kick. Given the usual long waits for Waits, "Bad As me" is well worth the time it took to arrive.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Amos Lee "Mission Bell"

Amos Lee finds his voice
5 Out of 5 Stars

Amos Lee's "Last Days at The Lodge" had me a bit worried. His first album to leave me unsatisfied, it was over-produced by Don Was. Was seemed to be trying to squeeze Amos into some sort of super-slick and commercialized pop-blues, much like Was did for Bonnie Raitt's blockbuster "Nick Of Time." But Lee was never as polished as Raitt, not should he be. On "Mission Bell," Lee's ultimate breaktrhough and first Top Ten album, reclaims the title of young buck singer-songwriter and moves him into such company as Ray LaMontagne and Iron & Wine's Sam Beam.

Intimate and easy but without the cream, "Mission Bell" bristles with staw folk and burning blues. Producer Joey Burns of Calexico (who has also collaborated with Beam) gives the guitar room to roam the prairie. He then pulls in some superb guests to sing, like Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson, while Lee holds his own with both. In fact, this may be the most natural Lee has sounded on album in his short career. Lee is pulling deep from his soul background, making a gospel wail like "Jesus" or Grateful Dead sound-alike "Cup Of Sorrow" ring with honest feeling. That is not to sat he's been faking it before, but sure sounds more grown up than even the excellent "Supply and Demand" could have.

This is Lee's move into classic turf. With "Mission Bell," he is now at the forefront of new American Singer Songwriters, and this is one of my favorite albums of 2011.