yup taking up more of others yearly quota when two more CDs landed on my doorstep.
Otis Redding – Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul
Yes I know I should have had this soul classic already but it’s another case of not wanting to fork out full whack for an album older than myself. Though of course I knew all the tracks, from Redding’s compositions, “Ole Man Trouble”, “Respect” and the legendary “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” to his reworkings of soul classics, Sam Cooke’s – “A Change Is Gonna Come” & “Wonderful World”, B.B. Kings blues track “Rock Me Baby” and some British Invasion R&B with the Stones’ “Satisfaction”.
Backed by the legendary Stax house musicians Booker T & The MGs (is there a more soulful underrated guitarist than Steve Cropper), Issac Hayes & The Memphis Horns, this is a must have.
Calexico – Feast Of Wire
How to describe Calexico & this album, well it’s something I’ve tried and completely failed to do they/it have to be heard to be understood. Alt.Country, Americana, Mariachi Rock, American-Latin-Jazz-Rock you can’t pigeon hole these guys with a label except if it’s the word good. The fact that no 2 of the 16 tracks on this album really sound the same doesn’t help it’s description but does help the enjoyment of listening.
Casa De Calexico – Their official site has some good live track MP3 downloads.
Both of these were £5 from The Hut (postage free), my kind of price :D.
Queens Of The Stone Age – Lullabies To Paralyze
…has been playing non-stop since it’s arrival and it’s a cracking album, yup it maybe takes a few listens to get into, not as immediate as “Songs For The Deaf”, but well worth the effort.
“This Lullaby” is nice haunting opening, perfectly fitting Mark Lanegan, sadly his only lead vocal on the disc (but we have last years excellent Bubblegum to make up for that). From there it kicks off into that break neck speed choppy guitar style of Josh Homme. Except for “Everyone Knows You Are Insane” which starts off very much like Alice In Chains, slide guitar sounding like Jerry Cantrell and vocals not far off Layne Staley & “The Blood Is Love” has a real AiC sound to it. Billy Gibbons adds some top notch blues riffs to “Burn The Witch”.
It may have been different with Oliveri onboard & more from Lanegan, might even have been better who knows it’s still a damn fine album as it is and gonna be better than most releases this year that’s for sure.