CD Reviews

Tedeschi Trucks Band | Revelator

Sony Masterworks (2011)

By ZETH LUNDY | June 9, 2011

3.5 Stars

If you like your summer soundtrack replete with the familial, genre-stir-fried Good Life incarnate, then this CD is right in your friggin' wheelhouse. The Tedeschi Trucks Band, an 11-piece rock ensemble led by husband-wife duo Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, does its bluesy soul-rock thang with a dose of church, preaching about life and love's simple pleasures. "You make me wanna wake up in the morning," Tedeschi sings all gangbusters on "Don't Let Me Slide," while Trucks's slide guitar, an Allman-approved tone that's been slaying jam fests since he was underage, gets equally happy. This is Stevie Wonder or Yo La Tengo territory, fearlessly approaching touchy-feely domestic ground where many fear to tread. They own it, too, getting into heavy funk on "Learn How To Love" and a blustery flute-augmented groove on "Love Has Something Else To Say" — marching to the beat of absolute contentedness, or proudly seeking it out. "Looking for life without sorrow, love without pain" goes the searching refrain in "Simple Things," while the band — rhythm, horns, and voices all — resides somewhere up on that musical higher ground.

O'Death embark on another folk-punk chapter
It must be a relief to realize that when you hit the stage, people know what they're going to get. O'Death have spent the past several years banging out a reputation as grizzled folk punks who run their sets like moonshine raids.
Shabazz Palaces | Black Up
The musical reincarnation of Ishmael Butler, the elusive Seattle rapper who makes up one-third of the semi-popular '90s jazz-rap act Digable Planets under the name Butterfly, is a lot to unpack.
Jessica 6 | See the Light
There is an odd paradox in the modern Western way of appreciating music-as-art: musical pieces that get enshrined on top of the pillar of "art" tend to be those with little-to-no practical utility. Thus, no genre is treated quite as disposably as dance music, even though much of society's fringe movers reside there.
Dar Williams | Many Great Companions
The companions of the title are Dar Williams's songs, which the singer-songwriter revisits here two different ways.
Old 97's | The Grand Theatre
When Old 97's are on — which they are most of the time on their eighth studio album — they're very, very on.
Suuns | Zeroes QC
Secretly Canadian (2010)
Rihanna | Loud
Let's be honest here: the average human doesn't care about RiRi's need to express her artistic personality through music and would be more psyched if it were just 11 versions of "Don't Stop the Music."
Live review: Matt Meyer and the Gumption Junction at Blue, November 11
On my way to see Matt Meyer and the Gumption Junction play at Blue, I made sure to get there on time.
I wanna Jamericana
For some of us, the title of Dirigo's debut album makes perfect sense. But I can't tell you how many times I've been asked: "So, it's like Jamaican reggae, but played in America?"
Photos: Wanda Jackson + Justin Townes Earle + M. Ward at the Newport Folk Festival
Wanda Jackson, Justin Townes Earle, and M. Ward perform at the Newport Folk Festival on July 31, 2011.
Photos: Tegan and Sara + Mavis Staples + The Decemberists at Newport Folk Festival
Tegan and Sara, Mavis Staples, and The Decemberists perform at the Newport Folk Festival on July 30, 2011.
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Topics: CD Reviews , Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, folk, More

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