I have been looking forward to today for months and months and months. I've prepared you for this moment and it finally arrives: it's BlueBella Records Day here at Blogcritics!
When I write my Best Music of 2010 column at year's end, I can promise you we'll all look back to this day. Half of my list could come from albums being released today. The four albums being released by Blue Bella have dominated my listening time through the first three months of the year with no slowdown expected any time soon.
Nick Moss – Privileged
Kilborn Alley Blues Band – Better Off Now
Matthew Stubbs – Medford & Main
Cash Box Kings – I-94 Blues
Nick Moss founded Blue Bella Records to release his own music his way. The consistently high quality output of his own career would have made Blue Bella an important player on the blues scene if he continued releasing nothing but his own music, but he didn't. After releasing several of his own albums, Blue Bella began working with other like-minded artists. The early results were fine blues albums from artists who like Moss were firmly schooled in the Chicago blues tradition. Blue Bella had its own musical identity, a rarity in the era of corporate labels who try to offer something for everyone. That identity doesn't undergo a radical change with this quartet of releases but it does broaden, and it does so in part because of the newest record from its founder.
Nick Moss spent years studying the Chicago blues tradition from men who played vital roles in shaping it in the early-to-middle part of the 20th century. The time spent learning the nuances of the Chicago tradition over the course of five studio and two live albums resulted in some of the most satisfying music the idiom has had to offer in ages. By staying true to the form, Moss' growth as an artist — singer, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, producer — was audible but sometimes obscured. Not anymore. On Privileged, Moss takes his sound to new places and distills everything he has learned into the most forceful, direct, confrontational record of his career.
Kilborn Alley delivers on the promise of their previous records and reaches new heights. They've broadened their musical horizons without diluting their sound. They confidently move through different components of the blues — shuffles, soulful ballads, and hardboiled blues — and demonstrate mastery of them all. They are playing better and vocalist Andrew Duncanson is singing better than ever. Better Off Now is more than just the best album of their young career, it's one of the best blues records of recent memory.
Cash Box Kings have been working the Chicago blues circuit for awhile now but this is their first record with Blue Bella. CBK are sort of like a band within a band; there is a core group of musicians that expands to include some very talented friends. They spent one day in the studio knocking out 17 songs, 15 of which they present to you on I-94 Blues. The album is not 100% overdub free but you can bet this is more live than most live albums. Not only is it live, it's alive. There is spontaneity and camaraderie. The Kings and honorary "Kings" are multi-instrumentalists and lead vocalists change from one track to another. If they're this entertaining in the studio, you know they have to be great live.
Matthew Stubbs may go down as my favorite musical discovery of 2010. I've long been a fan of instrumental guitar music. Satriani, Vai, Keaggy- I love listening to the way these men voice melodies through their guitar and the way they relate their main instrument with other instruments and explore different sounds and styles. Enter Matt Stubbs. He makes instrumental music and he's a guitarist, but this isn't instrumental guitar music in the sense of the established genre any more than this is a blues record. Despite owing nothing to the sound of U2, Stubbs' approach reminds me more of the opaque, texture-driven approach of The Edge than it does to other Guitar Heroes of the past or present. Along with collaborator Sax Gordon, who handles the horn arrangements, they create a sweet blend of sounds evoking Memphis and Southern California.
Peter Karp & Sue Foley
He Said She Said
Just as Matthew Stubbs has been one of my favorite musical discoveries of this year, Peter Karp was a favorite of 2007 and his place in my musical universe remains secure. When I interviewed him about his brilliant Shadows & Cracks, he mentioned that among the many projects he was considering for a follow-up was this collaboration with Sue Foley. This album didn't start as an album but as a collection of letters the two artists exchanged. As the correspondence continued the two artists realized they had something special brewing, and used that as the basis for this imaginative collaboration.
The White Stripes
Under Great White Northern Lights
We don't know when Jack White will return to his White Stripes musical persona, but while we wait we have this soundtrack to the film of the same name. Under Great White Northern Lights is a tour film that follows Jack and Meg across Canada and includes a lot of performance footage of the duo in concert. The CD culls 16 of those tracks and presents the first-ever White Stripes live album. Nearly all phases of the band's oeuvre are represented and there is a brilliant cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" tossed in for good measure.
And now we get to the very honorable mention recordings out this week including what is being billed as the first of two possible records from Drive By Truckers (The Big 2-Do), a new set from jazzman Brad Mehldau (Highway Rider), and the latest from Juno-winning blues/roots artist Chris "Old Man" Luedecke (My Hands Are On Fire And Other Love Songs).
Aiden
From Hellöwith Love
Armored Saint
La Raza
Boys Of The Isle, The
The Absolutely Essential Irish
Brad Mehldau
Highway Rider
Cash Box Kings
I-94 Blues
Caveman Culture Sound
Volume 1
Disco Biscuits, The
Planet Anthem
Drive By Truckers
The Big-2-Do
Dropkick Murphys
Live On Lansdowne, Boston Ma
Etran Finatawa
Tarkat Tajje/Let S Go!
Fates Warning
Parallels
Fireball Ministry
Fireball Ministry
From First To Last
Throne To The Wolves
Gamma Ray
To The Metal!
Gilberto Gil
Bandadois
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday
Jarreau, Al
Live In London/ The Deluxe Edi
Jasmine
The Next Me
Jes
High Glow
Jorge Drexler
Amar La Trama
Kanda, Hiromi
Hiromi In Love
Karp, Peter And Sue Foley
He Said She Said
Kate Miller/Heidk/Curiouser
Curiouser
Kilborn Alley Blues Band
Better Off Now
Kirk Whalum
The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter III
Matthew Stubbs
Medford & Main
Meredith Andrews
As Long As It Takes
Midnight Well
Midnight Well
Nick Moss
Privileged
O Hearn, Patrick
A Windham Hill Retrospective
Old Man Luedecke
My Hands Are On Fire And Other Love Songs
One For The Team
Ghosts
Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording
Coraline
Parker, Graham
Imaginary Television
Popa Chubby
The Fight Is On
Praise And Worship Top 40
Top 40 Praise & Worship Vol. 3 (3Cd)
Raintime
Psychromatic
Reno & Smiley
Bluegrass 1963
Sapp, Marvin
Here I Am
Seasick Steve
Man From Another Time
Sly & The Family Stone
Ain T But The One Way (Origina
Standard Fare
The Noyelle Beat
Stockwell, Tony
Healing The Wounded Soul
Stockwell, Tony
Heighten Your Spiritual Awaren
Streetlight Manifesto
99 Songs Of Revolution
Tetanus
Such A Loser
The Audition
Greatdanger
The Whigs
In The Dark
The White Stripes
Under Great White Northern Lights
Uriah Heep
Celebration (Reg Ed)
Various
Sunday In The Country
Various
The Edge
Various Artists
Adagio: A Windham Hill Collect
Various Artists
Rough Guide To Arabic Lounge (
Various Artists
Rough Guide To World Music For
Various: Mixed By Agoria
Balance 016
Venegas, Julieta
Otra Cosa
Weiss, Dan Trio
Timshel
Wiseman, Mac
Bluegrass 1971