One can only be grateful that the
Delta blues
has experienced yet another mutation since the dawn of the new millennium. In the 1990s, acts like
the Flat Duo Jets
,
the Blues Explosion
20 Miles
, and a host of others used the
Delta
tradition in their brand of
post-punk
blues
. But in the new century, bands like
the Black Keys
Immortal Lee County Killers
Pearlene
, and
Guy Blakeslee
's
Entrance
go deeper into the root. They ape the forms, evoke the ghostly spirit and feel of the tradition, and meld it together with a shambolic
rock & roll
intensity. Questions of authenticity mean nothing here. It's the spirit of the original music that's hotly and often raucously pursued and evoked. In
Blakeslee
's case,
Wandering Stranger
is drenched in the devil's music, from
Charley Patton
to
John Hurt
.
has augmented the band this time with fiddler-pianist
Paz Lenchantin
and drummer
Tommy Rowse
so he can concentrate on playing guitar and singing -- no irritating one-man rhythms on this set. The music itself is a wild, wonderful approach to the
music in both original and
traditional
tunes -- with a killer mutant cover of
Townes Van Zandt
"Rex's Blues"
that would make the late songwriter proud. This is not simply revival music.
's raw
are tempered by wooly psychedelic textures as on the album's hinge piece,
"Lonesome Road."
Lenchantin
's fiddle swirls above and through the mix, never quite squealing, but winding and whining against the guitars. The guitar plods and a subtle, constant, basic, yet unobtrusive rhythm moves the snaky tune forward in a labyrinthine fashion until it reaches catharsis.
's voice is a moaning, warbling lonely spirit. It has plenty of expression for its thin grainy tone. In the liners,
thanks
Blind Willie McTell
and
Uncle Dave Macon
for the
"Darlin',"
which for nearly ten minutes is a hypnotic
acoustic blues
that becomes a mutant sonic freak-out. It's not hyperbole either, as he sticks close to the intent and feel of the song almost all the way through. The two closing tracks,
"Please Be Careful in New Orleans"
"Happy Trails"
(not the
cowboy
tune), are wig-outs, full of wrangled, faltering guitars and slippery rhythms that channel the history of the
into some nocturnal present-day swamp music.
is a provocative, utterly compelling outing that is as confusing and sexy as it is savagely beautiful. ~ Thom Jurek