What a HUGE week for new releases this week. I have been looking forward to August 24 for weeks now and I'm going to get to all the albums that have my attention in good time but there are a few major releases I should probably touch on before I get to the good stuff.
Katy Perry
Teenage Daydream
Wow, do I not care about this release but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention it here at the top. A pair of singles from this record have been dominant hits of the summer at radio at a time when dominant hits have been hard to find. As far as pop confection goes, I find Perry slightly less nauseating than I do some of the other names at the top of the chart but there's hardly anything original here nor is Perry an amazing vocalist. She's playing the part and she's doing it well enough to have made a name for herself. I'll pass but have at it if this is your thing.
Charlie Musselwhite
The Well
Charlie Musselwhite was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame earlier this year and he's returned with his first album of new material since winning the Blues Music Award for Album Of The Year for his magnificent Delta Hardware. Musselwhite traced some of his Delta roots in the lyrics on DH and that trend continues on The Well, an album that might be the most personal of his illustrious, brilliant career. Song topics range from the events that helped him face his struggles with alcohol and have helped him find 22 years of sobriety as well as a stint he did in Cook County Jail.
Duke Robillard
Passport To The Blues
Duke Robillard is one of those musicians who transcend style or genre. He's known primarily for his blues-based work but this is a man who has toured with Tom Waits (and he covers Waits on this album) and has made records that emphasize his ability to play jazz and swing as well as blues. As the title suggests, this new record is a potent blues-based record that stands among the finest he's ever made.
Ronnie Earl
Spread The Love
Ronnie Earl is not only one of the great living guitar players, he's a man on a mission to deliver a message and that message is communicated with heart, soul, empathy, and vision on his latest studio recording. Spread The Love is an all-instrumental affair that still manages to say so much. Nobody plays like Ronnie Earl. He is the Tao of Tone. He is an ever-open channel and emotion and expression flows through him in the most natural way conceivable. Earl revisits songs from his past as well as offering up new compositions and he sounds as amazing as ever.
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
I'm pretty sure Katy Perry exists solely "to be hot" and music simply happens to be the medium through which she reaches us.
2 - Jordan Richardson
Perry's problem is that she's uninteresting in a world of Gagas and Ke$has. Having coloured hair and getting nekkid no longer cuts it to be an interesting pop act and her refusal to push beyond "tease pop" isn't going to do her any favours when her choice of avenues depends entirely on her sexuality.
She's not smouldering enough to pull anything off long-term and, what's worse, she can be interesting. But this Teenage Dream crap is just awful.
3 - Josh Hathaway
She can "be hot" on mute. Meanwhile let's talk about Duke, Ronnie, Charlie, and Lanegan & Campbell. I've heard two of the four records. I've nearly finished reviews of Duke and Ronnie: must owns, boyos. Incredible. I've got a really good feeling about the Musselwhite record, too. I haven't heard a note from it but I have a hunch.