Valerie June, "Pushin' against a stone"

/ ARTIST: Valerie June / TITLE: "Pushin' against a stone" / GENRÉ: Folk / LABEL: Sunday Best / FORMAT: CD /

I first acquainted myself with miss June's talent on the Letterman show and decided that I must buy her CD, which came out earlier this year. When I caught her on the Letterman show, it was said that it was her debut on telly and I watched a few clips on youtube with her and all of a sudden, things just took off in number of viewers on youtube, as well as "likes" on facebook. I think miss June has the ability to become a crossover act and earn respect outside the narrow circles of folk crowds.

Anyway, the first thing that hit me while seeing her on the telly was the obvious beauty of the woman, second, I liked her voice and thirdly, I really loved her music. The tune she played was Workin' woman blues, which made me, while recommending a mate of mine to check her out, make the comment that this is what Townes van Zandt would sound like if he was a young african american woman.

Such a remark, after having listened to her whole album, is still valid, but it doesn't cover all of her abilities, because miss June has a unique expression of music. Still, while she may not live up to van Zandt's intelligence and emotion in lyrics, she comes pretty close and does communicate, at times, the same feeling I get while listening to Townes.

Another cool thing about miss June, which sets her apart from ordinary folk singers is her eclectiveness. She doesn't sing pure folk, american way, but puts rich offerings of african american culture in her brew. You can hear blues, as well as gospel, soul and west african folk music in it all and, perhaps influenced by another fave act of mine, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, brings in a soft hip hop flavor with a few electronic beats to some tunes.

Valerie June is cool, gifted and in every sense a blessing to all non-orthodox fans of american music, country fans and blues fans alike will like this.

Easily one of the best albums of the year so far. Don't miss her and remember where you read about her first!

A pretty good record like this gets a whoopin' 83,6% in rate of satisfaction!

Various Artists, "Hear my back door slam"

/ ARTIST: Various Artists / TITLE: "Hear my back door slam" / GENRÉ: Blues / LABEL: Bakhåll / FORMAT: CD /

Before I start writing this review I must come clean, I like blues, but it's one of the many genrés of music I like that I know the least of, being a newcomer to the genré. Something which can only be blamed on the Eslöv City blues festival that has sparked an interest in the genré for me.

To me and all newcomers, this is a wonderful compilation put out by a Swedish record label called "Bakhåll" and I couldn't resist buying it, not only cos I want to support the scene in Sweden and the fact that it was ridiculously cheap, it cost me about €5, no, cos what you get here is the perfect introduction to the genré.

On this little darling, you get 20 of the best known American blues singers doing some of their best numbers. BB King, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, they're all here. Then add the fact that you get a good little brochure with facts about the performers that is highly welcomed for people like me, people who consider starting a blues record collection. The brochure is in Swedish, though, which might make it less usable for non-Swedes.

Why should one buy a compilation of blues then? You get a load of different styles of blues, some with bands and some just an acoustic guitar on them, "but doesn't all blues tunes sound the same?", my punk and skinhead mates ask me. No, they don't, they all bring the performers soul into the music which make every number stand out. Even if you're not a blues die-hard, you should respect the legacy of the genré. Most tunes on this compilation comes from the 50's and sure, not much groundbreaking has been done since then, but blues has gone on, through r&b, to influence everything from rockabilly over the mod music of the 60's to punk. There's a straight lineage of influence from that time till the present.

As I said, this record makes one want to start a collection of blues vinyl. Every tune on this album is a killer! The tunes, apart from those of the superstars of the genré that stand out are the tunes of JB Lenoir and Jimmy Reed, both of whom I'll check out more stuff by.

I really liked this compilations and it get a bloomin 96,7% in rate of satisfaction

Day two of the festival

I saw three acts today, whereof the middle one was the best and everyone else faded in comparison. Therefore, I start with them.

The second band I saw was Black River Bluesman & Bad Moon Hudson and, as I hinted above, was blown away.

This duo, guitar and drums, like the White Stripes, only better, played a modern version of blues, like Danko Jones, only better. They had a brutal sound to them, very raw and primitive guitarplay, a much needed kick up the arsehole of hippies who play endless guitar solos. To that, add a vocalist who sounds like count Dracula and could easily find employment in a psychobilly band. There's not much to say, they were simply brilliant. I think they come very close to the feel of blues ages ago, the same spirit that you could experience in clubs in Chicago when the migrants from the south had a day off and would go out clubbing. I think. I wasn't there, in Chicago, that is.

I had always thought that us from Skåne, the south of Sweden, that is, had the best voices for singing blues and the right feeling in us, but I must admitt, theese Finns come a long way close to excellence.

Black River Bluesman & Bad Moon Hudson's gig was one of the best I've experienced, all categories included. 90,2% in rate of satisfaction.

The third act I caught was John Primer & CPH Slim Band. Primer has worked with Muddy Waters and received Grammy nominations, which make him a legend. One could argue that what he played was blues by the numbers and a bit boring, but then again, the best gig I've ever been to was with the Warriors in Oslo ten years ago or so and I wasn't disappointed because they played numbers like Working class kids or Violence in our minds. If you've helped to define the genré of music you play, then you're entitled to go down memory lane.

It was a perfect gig in some respects, a real crowd pleaser, still, as an amateur in the blues field, I wasn't really that satisfied. I would have wanted something that stood out from the classical stuff.

78,3% in rate of satisfaction.

The first act I caught today was also the weakest. YO Combinations played a mix of blues with funk and southern rock. I liked it a bit, but not that much. They played a lot of covers and two of their own numbers, their own being their weakest.

Apart from that, there was nothing wrong with their craftsmanship. They know how to handle their instruments, I really liked the guitarplay at times.

 

58,3% in rate of satisfaction.

Day one of the festival

So, I went to the Eslöv city blues festival yesterday and I got tickets for tonight's show as well.

I am not really that into blues. I like it, but it's not a passion. It is however, the basic foundation of all African-American music and as this blog is about American culture, I think it's ok to review it here.

Friday's show started with two short plays by a free theatre group. I saw the first one and was not really that convinced it had something to do with blues, so when I discovered there was a geezer sitting in the café room playing electric guitar, harmonica and singing, I decided to give him a listen instead of watching the second play. I think his name was Christian, but I ain't too sure. I really liked his music, though. I think it had a country feeling to it's bluesiness and I got thinking along the terms of Townes van Zandt, even though this bloke first of all wasn't as good as Townes and, secondly, had his own sound. I really liked his guitar playing though.

As the clock approached 9 pm, the headliners of the night entered stage, The Big Bang Group. This group celebrated their 25th anniversary as a band this year an had, for that purpose, invited a lot of mates from throughout their career that they had enjoyed playing with. There was a few oldies, like vocalist and harmonica playing Bill Öhrström, as well as young vocalist Susanne Eriksson. All their guests were hugely talented though and even if I really liked Erikssons singing, it's unfair to say that one was better than the other.

Credit must also go out to guitarist of the day, Mange. The usual guitarist of the band had called in sick yesterday and just a few hours before the gig, they had called Mange and asked if he wanted to play with them as a stand-in and he agreed.

Together, they made one heck of a show! The basics of all the music was blues, but the band and their guests then went on picnics in jazz, as well as r&b/soul. I really liked the r&b-ish stuff. Sure, I can listen to a bit of jazz, as well, but I have a soft spot for r&B and soul, there's no denying that!

One of the highlights of the show was the Fats Domino tune Blueberry hill. Ulf Johansson Werre, who sang it, made a real crowd pleaser of a scat-singing at the end of it, which he evloved into a "Jojk", a Lapplandian singing style, that is.

Some tunes were in English and some in Swedish, but they were all good!

I enjoyed myself thuroughly throughout the show yesterday and am looking forward to tonight's show. Not sure I'll watch all of it, as I must get up early and go to church in the morning, but I'm really pleased that my little town can arrange a good festival like this one.

Big Bang Group made one heck of a great show and gets 81,3% in rate of satisfaction!

The Eslöv city blues festival

Just reminding people of the Eslöv city blues festival.

Programme in English avaiable here!

I went last year and had a blast, watching the band Cajun Peppar, was reason enough to go and I believe this year will great as well. I've naturally got my tickets for it.

So, if you're in the area in late October and would like to catch some good blues acts, come to the festival!

Carolina Chocolate Drops: "Leaving Eden"

I have wanted to check this band out for a long while. I read a piece on them in the excellent magazine Country Music People and it basically said that banjo is originally an African instrument and this band wanted to reclaim an often forgotten part of American folk music, the African American part that is.

Not that this band has to be "the black band". They're a real powerhouse of a band on any merit, black or white, but it's still a recommendable thing they're doing. I had the pleausre to aquaint myself with this tradition on the compilation The stuff that dreams or made of and I liked it. Normally when you speak of African American folk music, it begins with Robert Johnson and ends with Muddy Waters. Sure, I like blues, but it would be a shame if the black string tradition would die out and this trio does it's best to prevent it from doing so.

To be honest, I am perhaps the wrong man to review this record, as I don't know too much about the genre, but I sure like it.

So it would be a shame if I just kept it to myself and didn't share my views on it.

American folk musics are to some extent intermingled with each other. There's a real blues feel to good bluegrass and there is sure some European influences in the music of Carolina Chocolate Drops, but still most of it is African-inspired.

When I read on them in the CMP piece, it said they sometimes cover modern R&B songs and I have already listened to their famous interpretation of Blu Cantrells Hit 'em up style. On this record, they take this step one step further by not only interpretating modern music through folk styles, but the other way around too. They bring R&B to folk by beatboxing and scratching, they give their music a real urban flavour.

But they never downplay the strings on any tune, 'cept for the a capella tunes Read 'em John and the beautiful Pretty Bird.

So, what you get musically is a folkish album with roots everywhere (even in Scotland!), but most of all, as the lyrics to the best tune on the album, Country girl, explains, in the deep south.

There are no bad tunes on this album, even if all tunes aren't great. Still, it's agood album and by buying it, you support a hardworking young band that is really doing an effort to make brilliant music and saving a tradition in doing so.

All in all, as I said, a good album. I give it 78,9% in level of satisfaction!

Various Artists, "The stuff that dreams are made of"

This two disc compilation features rare collectibles in cajun, country, blues and pre-bluegrass, vinyl now made available on cd.

Lately, I've grown to appreciate old American folk tremendously. Sure, I like a lot of modern stuff too, but theese old records from the 20's and 30's have a quality to them like movies from that age shares as well. Just as laurel and Hardy still make you chuckle in a sense Adam Sandler won't in just ten years, theese skilled musicians (among them my fave, Dock Boggs) knock out quality tunes that makes you want to put on your dancing shoes.

There's a lot of blues on this compilation and I for one ain't all that keen on blues, sure, I can listen to it and enjoy it, it's just that I don't enjoy it as much as other genres of American folk.

There's a few instrumental tunes on the discs, as well as quite a few with singing to them and they all have that old record feel to them, none of the tunes have been processed with equaliser, the background, old vinyl, dust sound is all there.

Musically, the tunes are well more diverse than today's format. You get piano and trumpets on some tunes, instruments that are not too common on today's folk recordings.

Lyrically, you get a lot of innocense too. Country had, back in those days, often a humorous side to it that more modern country tunes (with perhaps the exception of Johnny Cash's Boy named Sue) lack. Wilmer Watts and the lonely eagles has a very funny tune on this one, that is Fightin' in the war with Spain.

The only things that I hold against this record is that there's not enough Cajun tunes, there's too much blues and that one of the tunes, Chicken don't roost too high, by The Georgia Pot Lickers, could be interpreted as a racist tune, which might have been acceptable in the 20's, but not now and even if it is a collectible, it shouldn't have been included on a record with musicians what own that much to African American traditions.

This means that this compilation is, in other words, not perfect, but pretty close. I give it 95,8% in level of satisfaction.

The Eslöv blues festival, day two

I didn't stay for all bands, because the last artist I saw, Slidin' Slim, was so good there was no reason for staying for the others. This gig, the Slidin' Slim gig was, in my book, the second best gig I've ever attended (for those who wonder, The Warriors in Oslo was the best). To stay to hear the headliners, whom the morning papers will all cover anyway, would simply be to be disapointed and bring down the total experience.

Slidin' Slim plays neotraditional blues on a steel guitar, which I'm always a sucker for. He's got the guitar sound, of course, but he has also got a bassy, deep voice perfect for singing the blues. Dunno whether he smokes or drinks, but his voice sounds like it has had a copule of shots of Bourrbon in his days.

The second band I saw today was Blue Mood, a geezer singing over a piano and a lad playing the guitar. This lad, however, is an old school pal of mine, whom I haven't seen in years, so we had a small chat before they entered the stage.

As the guitarist is a pal, it would be unfair to give them a review proper, as I can't be objective. I'll settle for describing their music.

Blue Mood plays, soft, laidback blues that pays as much homage to Muddy Waters, as it does, I think, to Nina Simone and, perhaps unintentionally, Sade. The guitarist also showed he's influenced by kids telly, cos he played the theme to Inspector Gadget in an ad-lib.

They were real crowd pleasers.

The first band I saw was a band called Cajun Peppar. As you might guess from their name, they are heavily influenced by cajun music, which I, as my faithful blog readers all know, like. Geez Louise, I thought I was the only Skånepåg who knew who Nathan Abshire and The Balfa Brothers were.

This band plays a form of cajun which is heavily influenced by blues. You really notice the African-American influence in their music and people often forgot that there is much African-American influences in cajun too. It ain't all celtic stuff.

Some tunes were all bluesy, but had a cajun accordion in it, which spiced their sound up and i didn't miss the fiddle at all, they were good, alright!

Cajun peppar mixes singing in English, Creol French and theirs and mine Skånska.

I really liked this band and I really liked the setting, Röstånga Mölla Café and the fact that there was no alcohol involved. Only bad thing I can say about them is the fact that they were a bit untight at times, but they were good enough to have this fact pardoned.

I really like the fact that there is a Skånskt cajun band and I will try to see them loads more times. Hopefully, people will dance then.

This was a great festival, the twelth in a row, unless I'm mistaken. Eslöv is a town in the deep Swedish south and not much happen here, so it's really cool that people bring blues to the town. For someone who likes American music, it's not easy to find gigs to attend, especially not in little Eslöv.

Two thumbs up for the crew!

Slidin' Slim gets 99,9% in level of satisfaction.
Cajun Peppar were also good and gets 81,3% in level of satisfaction.

The Eslöv blues festival, day one

I only saw the first two bands last night. I worked all week and got tired and went home from the festival 10.30 pm-ish. The two bands I saw, Vantamölla Bluesband and Bloosblasters were very much the business, though.

Vantamölla should have been the main attraction, but I'm glad they weren't cos in that case, I would have missed them. They were that good. They played traditional blues in English without attempting to sound like african americans, which was a good thing. It's better to be yourself and do your own thing.

After a few songs, the audience was dancing in front of the stage. There was no bad tunes, but the best tune was a song about the vocalist's son, who died a few years ago, it was very emotional and received massive applause at the end of it.

This is definitely a band I would like to see more times.

Bloosblasters played what is described as "gladbloos", that is blues with my accent, that is Skånska (the southernmost region in Sweden) and I was prepared for a bad version of Peps Persson, the artist most known from this genre, but theese geezers had their own style. Their lyrics were witty and contained anything from the vocalist's dog to sex and family troubles.

I'm sure some purists consider this band fake, cos they sing in Skånska and about not so serious things. But that would be to underestimate this band. As and old punk rock vocalist, I know that it's far more difficult to write witty lyrics than it is to write socially aware stuff. Any one can criticise the government, but not anyone can make his neighbour laugh. And besides, the band was really tight when it came to music. The vocalist picked up his guitar every now and then and made some really good riffs and he was a demon on the harmonica as well.

Vantamölla Blueband gets 98,3% in level of satisfaction, they were that good.
Bloosblasters were also good and gets 89,8% in level of satisfaction.

Going out tonight

Every year, my hometown Eslöv hosts a big blues festival. Lately, I've gotten into blues, so I am going to attend. Tickets have already been bought for today and tomorrow.

Maybe you'll read about it in my blog. Part of me wants to do a write-up on it to make more people read about my hometown, but then another part of me would like to just go out for the night, listen to good music and drink some soft drinks and just chill out, without contemplating what to write.

Besides, the venue will probably be loaded with old hippies and as everyone knows, hippies are the real enemy and I don't want no hippies to gain publicity.

Never mind, maybe I'll write something and then again maybe I won't. If I do so, this will be the place to read it!

Sorry, Steve Earle

I would have loved to see you live in Malmö, but the tickets to the Blues festival in Eslöv is all I can afford this month!

The blues festival in Eslöv, my hometown

My hometown, Eslöv, hosts one of the best blues festivals in this country and this year's festival will take place on October 28th-29th.

I am particulary looking forward to seeing and hearing Cajun Peppar, a band which mixes blues with cajun and country music.

More info in English here.