Music Review: North Mississippi Allstars - Hill Country Revue: Live at Bonnaroo
Published October 18, 2004
I was hopeful, too, when I saw the publicity still of the electric washboard. You don't get much cooler than an electric washboard, right? Chalk up one point for this disc for featuring an electric washboard. It's played by Cody Dickinson, not to be confused with Cody Burnside, who is credited as providing the "rap vocals" for this train-wreck of a record. I'll answer that before you even take the trouble to ask: yes, southern rock-rap is every bit as ill-advised as it sounds.
But there is one nice thing I've got to say about the record - I was very, very grateful that some of the tracks weren't longer than they are. The band very cleverly puts the fear of God into the listener right in the beginning of the album, with a twelve minute medley of horrors that cycles from a tune called Po Black Maddie to one called Skinny Woman and then returns, sadistically, to Po Black Maddie.
As ever, I accept that I may be terribly wrong about this disc. I think there's every possibility that if you like - really, really like southern rock, or have a deep and insatiable love for jam bands, or are deaf - you might like this disc quite a lot (or at least, in the last case, be indifferent to it.) However, as you've probably gathered, that was not my reaction.
I was raised in the countryside of West Virginia. The nearest neighbors were all relatives and even that was a bit of a walk, so I have become pretty well acquainted with tedium. The second track of the North Mississippi Allstars disc, however, put me in touch with levels of boredom I would have though impossible just one short week ago.
I understand that our armed forces are currently playing loud music to torture prisoners in Iraq into giving away secrets. If any of you reading this are "citizen tipsters" for Homeland Security, perhaps you'd be good enough to pass the name of this album on to your contacts - I didn't listen to it at a high volume, but after the tenth track or so, had I any secrets, I would have gladly given them up just to make the damned music stop. Self-discipline, after all, has its limits.
Further reading:
- North Mississippi Allstars Official Site
- North Mississippi Allstars Tour Schedule
- Music Review: North Mississippi Allstars - Hill Country Revue: Live at Bonnaroo
- Published: October 18, 2004
- Type: Review
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Blues, Music: Jam Band, Music: Roots Rock
- Writer: MattP
- MattP's BC Writer page
- MattP's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Matt, missed this review the first time around. I haven't heard the CD but am also inclined to like the band, loved the first disc in particular. If you are going to not like something, and feel compelled to convey that news to the world, this is an exceptional method of doing it. Thanks
Man, has anybody seen the john because I have to take the biggest MattP of my life. Hill Country Revue is one of the best live recordings I have ever heard. If someone, who claims they like North Mississippi Allstars, complains about the songs like Shake em on Down, Po black maddie, skinny lil woman, and "the blues jams on the disc," it's safe to assume they're full of crap. About the rap/rock tracks like be so glad and snake drive, nma is probably the first band to succesfuly combine rock/blues/rap and catch the ears of people with all different tastes in music. Here's why: I have hated rap most of my life. The fake and synthesized crap has just never appealed to me. That's just me though. Point in case, every person i know who hates rap too has liked the freestyling in the cd. This is a breakthrough. The band's energy, enthusiasm, and feeling reminds me of bands like Sublime or Nirvana except Luther Dickinson is much better at guitar vs Bradly Nowell and Kurt Cobain. Not to say those guys are bad, their solo's are not exactly the hardest things to play. If you ever see the band live, you'll understand what im talking about. Everyone i know who has seen them loves them. I have seen the band 3 times. Their talent is unbelievable. One of the shows i saw lasted for 4 hours too. The energy level of the band is off the charts. Mark my words, the band is a ticking time bomb getting ready to explode. Their work is absolutely bad ass.
Reviewer is out to lunch on this one. I would like to suggest that instead of trying to sound so superciliously authoritative on the subject, that it would serve those who read the reviews to actually have the reviewer listen properly to the music and have a basic knowledge of the type of music. This recording is one of those that is more enjoyable each and everytime I listen to it, the music is brilliant and the band is so tight with every aspect. Want more of this!
I have to compliment MattP for his undeniable success in completely negating any validity his musical opinions may have once had, if any. After stumbling upon this review, I have to say that this eloquence applies more to one's reaction to reading his article. To apply his words more appropriately, this article "put me in touch with levels of boredom I would have thought impossible." I had a difficult time taking the review seriously from someone who has the rare combination of being a "fan" while lacking an appreciation and ear for great tracks like Po Black Maddie. The only positive thing that has come out of this review is that his surrounding West Virginians will no longer have to witness him get "visibly excited" when the Allstars come on the radio.
What a douche this MattP is..... He needs to be sent back to the communist shithole where he belongs.....Born and raised in west Virginia? He writes more like he was raised in West Manhattan with all his liberal political anologies typical of an elitest that wants to push a leftist agenda. I guess the Bare naked Ladies would suit him better because he obviously has no musical taste what so ever!
hill country review may be the best ALBUM i have ever heard! how did you ever get to be a music critic with your taste in music??
I found this review by accident while googling Cody Dickinson's new band. If anyone else also finds this by accident, trust the above comments, not the critic's review. Hopefully the critic has since gotten a job he is better suited for: holding up "stop/go" sign for construction zone traffic.
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my friend, are a complete idiot.