THE BLACK KEYS - "Delta Kream"
[LP/CD](Nonesuch)
On their second pure blues release, "Delta Kream" is surprisingly subdued and could easily qualify as the "ghosts" of "Chulahoma." Given the majority of "Kream" is the straight Hill Country Blues of Junior Kimbrough ("Stay All Night") and R.L.Burnside ("Goin' Down South" done smartly by Dan Auerbach in falsetto,) this a return to their Fat Possum days. Given 10 hours and no real rehearsals, Auerbach and Carney brought authentic Hill Country descendants Eric Deaton and Kenny Brown to the studio in Nashville and simply cut it live. The Keys also go through Big Joe Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and break John Lee Hooker's "Crawling Kingsnake" down into that sweet-but-menacing style of Junior Kimbrough.
ST. VINCENT - "Daddy's Home"
[LP/CD/CS](Loma Vista)
Annie Clark, the artist gets deeply personal on her sixth album. With the return from her father from prison following a sentence for fraud, absence is the name of the game here. As she zooms in on her life, his pain becomes hers ("Pay Your Way In Pain," and the missing parts of her that were covered up are now more exposed.) "Daddy's Home" is dark and funky like Sly & The Family Stone's druggy masterpiece "There's a Riot Goin' On." There are grooves, but little comfort in them. It's almost as if Annie Clark and her constant allure are drawing you back in with each song. St. Vincent, the composer/guitarist extraordinaire has a field day within these loose textural boundaries. While her previous albums have all been thematic, "Daddy's Home" knows no boundaries. Nor should she ever again.
STRUNG LIKE A HORSE - "WHOA!"
[LP/CD](Transoceanic)
Americana is designed to be a mixture of music that could honestly hide beneath the same umbrella. A good Americana album should have a couple of singles perhaps paired with two deeper cuts or acoustic departures. This balanced attack should even draw in Folk-ish concepts and Rock-ish construction. After all, Bluegrass can be fast enough for someone to (gently) bang their head. On their debut "WHOA!," all the strands are joined and this band emerges as a natural successor to the Avett Brothers.
Chattanooga's Strung Like A Horse has Mississippi roots and proudly shows them on "Gold In Their Souls," deals out stories ("Pelahatchie Nights") and even good advice ("Forget What They Think") without any pretension. All along, producer Matt Ross-Spang keeps the band and their sound rigidly focused on not resembling anyone you know too much, yet always carrying you on that familiar feel.
SONS OF KEMET - "Black To The Future"
[LP/CD](Impulse)
From the vibrant Jazz explosion in London, the supergroup expands their definition of Jazz well beyond the mixture of funk, Caribbean rhythms and world music to further encompass Hip-Hop ("Hustle (feat. Kojey Radical)" and even Rock. Drummers Tom Skinner and Eddie Hick create dense polyrhythms with Theon Cross on tuba holding down the low frequencies. With all that space, Shabaka Hutchings is free to roam with saxophones, bass clarinets and more musical voices. On tracks like the bubbling almost-New Orleans jump-funk of "To Never Forget The Source," Sons of Kemet display a control of their tension and ability to let the funk bubble up but never boil over.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
