JAS. MATHUS
''OLD SCOOL HOT WINGS''
MAY 30 2006
50:51
**********
01 - Voice Of A Pork Chop 02:22
02 - Ben Dewberry'S Final Run 04:03
03 - Peaches 04:26
04 - Tappin' That Thing 03:46
05 - Bullfrog Blues 04:44
06 - Old Rugged Cross 02:51
07 - Carrier Line 05:47
08 - Dixie 03:41
09 - Torture Blues 04:38
10 - Wouldn'T Treat A Dog 04:10
11 - No Monkey Business 03:48
12 - Bright Sunny South 06:31
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Marisa Brown
Call him Jim, James, Jimbo, Jas., call him what you will; all you really need to know is that he's from Mississippi, and that he plays the blues. That's certainly all that matters on James Mathus' latest record with his band Knockdown South, Old Scool Hot Wings. He sticks to the Delta basics here, a dirty acoustic guitar and his voice, plus a bass, but he throws in a dobro, washboard, fiddle, kazoo, even a tuba when he sees fit. It's music like what's played on sagging front porches, thick with sweat and deep summer air that hovers stagnant and hot as calloused thumbs hit steel strings and wood. Mathus wraps himself around old blues classics, moaning out the words to "Peaches," letting the bass tap out the beat in "Bullfrog Blues," accenting the mandolin in "Wouldn't Treat a Dog" with harmonized vocals. It's real, and it's raw, like it was recorded in an old bar, the smell of whiskey and stale beer stuck in the spaces between the notes. But Mathus is more than just R.L. Burnside or Charley Patton. He's also Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, and he reminds us of that, and how connected country and blues are in rural Mississippi. His take on "Old Rugged Cross," for which he smoothes out his voice, is lovely, with all the pain and suffering that it's supposed to have, and like any proud Southerner, he includes a version of "Dixie" using clean, rich harmonies and strings with simple percussion sustaining the movement, and when he sings, "I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixieland" you know he really means it. As if you weren't convinced about his authenticity and love for the music he's playing, Mathus also includes three original pieces that would fit into any Delta songbook, like "Torture Blues," which, with its sparse, repetitive guitar and vocals, sounds a lot like something Son House might have done. Which just goes to show that blues isn't so much about time and race, it's about passion and a feeling of connectedness to where you're from. Old Scool Hot Wings certainly shows that James Mathus has that.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Heather Phares
Thrills
Along with his work in the Squirrel Nut Zippers, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jim Mathus pursued projects outside of the group (often under slightly different names, including James Mathus, Jas Mathus, Jimbo "Hambone" Mathus, and Jimbo Mathus), appearing on collaborator Andrew Bird's albums Thrills and Bowl of Fire. In 1997, Mathus, Zippers bassist Stu Cole, producer Mike Napolitano, and pianist Greg Bell formed the Knockdown Society and released Play Songs for Rosetta, a collection of bluesman Charley Patton's songs that benefited his daughter Rosetta and her family. His music took another turn in late 2001 with the release of National Antiseptic, this time offering tribute to the electric juke joint swamp rock of the Deep South. That same year he appeared on Buddy Guy's classic Sweet Tea offering. Mathus followed up with the similarly bluesy and eclectic Stop and Let the Devil Ride in 2003, and two years later Knockdown South was issued.
Old Scool Hot Wings
Mathus decided to return to the acoustic roots of Mississippi blues and country with Old Scool Hot Wings, which came out in 2006. Also appearing in 2006, this time under the name Jimbo Mathus, was the album Jimmy the Kid, released by Artemis Records and re-released in 2014 on Hill Country. Mathus stuck with the Jimbo moniker for his 2011 full-length Confederate Buddha. Blue Light, a six-song solo vinyl EP, arrived in 2012, followed by the full-length White Buffalo in 2013. In February of 2014, Mathus and his Tri-State Coalition band issued the electric Dark Night of the Soul. He contributed to songwriter Ian Siegal's Picnic Sessions the same year. Mathus desired a completely analog sound for his next record. To that end, he recorded at Water Valley, Mississippi's Dial Back Sound, the home studio of Fat Possum label boss Bruce Watson. He emerged with the loosely knit concept offering Blue Healer in the spring of 2015.
WIKIPEDIA
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
********************
''OLD SCOOL HOT WINGS''
MAY 30 2006
50:51
**********
01 - Voice Of A Pork Chop 02:22
02 - Ben Dewberry'S Final Run 04:03
03 - Peaches 04:26
04 - Tappin' That Thing 03:46
05 - Bullfrog Blues 04:44
06 - Old Rugged Cross 02:51
07 - Carrier Line 05:47
08 - Dixie 03:41
09 - Torture Blues 04:38
10 - Wouldn'T Treat A Dog 04:10
11 - No Monkey Business 03:48
12 - Bright Sunny South 06:31
**********
REVIEW/AMG
Marisa Brown
Call him Jim, James, Jimbo, Jas., call him what you will; all you really need to know is that he's from Mississippi, and that he plays the blues. That's certainly all that matters on James Mathus' latest record with his band Knockdown South, Old Scool Hot Wings. He sticks to the Delta basics here, a dirty acoustic guitar and his voice, plus a bass, but he throws in a dobro, washboard, fiddle, kazoo, even a tuba when he sees fit. It's music like what's played on sagging front porches, thick with sweat and deep summer air that hovers stagnant and hot as calloused thumbs hit steel strings and wood. Mathus wraps himself around old blues classics, moaning out the words to "Peaches," letting the bass tap out the beat in "Bullfrog Blues," accenting the mandolin in "Wouldn't Treat a Dog" with harmonized vocals. It's real, and it's raw, like it was recorded in an old bar, the smell of whiskey and stale beer stuck in the spaces between the notes. But Mathus is more than just R.L. Burnside or Charley Patton. He's also Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams, and he reminds us of that, and how connected country and blues are in rural Mississippi. His take on "Old Rugged Cross," for which he smoothes out his voice, is lovely, with all the pain and suffering that it's supposed to have, and like any proud Southerner, he includes a version of "Dixie" using clean, rich harmonies and strings with simple percussion sustaining the movement, and when he sings, "I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixieland" you know he really means it. As if you weren't convinced about his authenticity and love for the music he's playing, Mathus also includes three original pieces that would fit into any Delta songbook, like "Torture Blues," which, with its sparse, repetitive guitar and vocals, sounds a lot like something Son House might have done. Which just goes to show that blues isn't so much about time and race, it's about passion and a feeling of connectedness to where you're from. Old Scool Hot Wings certainly shows that James Mathus has that.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
Heather Phares
Thrills
Along with his work in the Squirrel Nut Zippers, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jim Mathus pursued projects outside of the group (often under slightly different names, including James Mathus, Jas Mathus, Jimbo "Hambone" Mathus, and Jimbo Mathus), appearing on collaborator Andrew Bird's albums Thrills and Bowl of Fire. In 1997, Mathus, Zippers bassist Stu Cole, producer Mike Napolitano, and pianist Greg Bell formed the Knockdown Society and released Play Songs for Rosetta, a collection of bluesman Charley Patton's songs that benefited his daughter Rosetta and her family. His music took another turn in late 2001 with the release of National Antiseptic, this time offering tribute to the electric juke joint swamp rock of the Deep South. That same year he appeared on Buddy Guy's classic Sweet Tea offering. Mathus followed up with the similarly bluesy and eclectic Stop and Let the Devil Ride in 2003, and two years later Knockdown South was issued.
Old Scool Hot Wings
Mathus decided to return to the acoustic roots of Mississippi blues and country with Old Scool Hot Wings, which came out in 2006. Also appearing in 2006, this time under the name Jimbo Mathus, was the album Jimmy the Kid, released by Artemis Records and re-released in 2014 on Hill Country. Mathus stuck with the Jimbo moniker for his 2011 full-length Confederate Buddha. Blue Light, a six-song solo vinyl EP, arrived in 2012, followed by the full-length White Buffalo in 2013. In February of 2014, Mathus and his Tri-State Coalition band issued the electric Dark Night of the Soul. He contributed to songwriter Ian Siegal's Picnic Sessions the same year. Mathus desired a completely analog sound for his next record. To that end, he recorded at Water Valley, Mississippi's Dial Back Sound, the home studio of Fat Possum label boss Bruce Watson. He emerged with the loosely knit concept offering Blue Healer in the spring of 2015.
WIKIPEDIA
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
********************
No comments :
Post a Comment