Blues Monday
Virtuoso acoustic slide guitarist Michael Messer's new album for Cooking Vinyl is a decidedly odd, strangely compelling but ultimately flawed affair. Aided and abetted by an experienced troupe of backing musicians "The Second Mint Band" (whose various credits include working alongside Ryan Adams, Robert Wyatt and The Sugababes! ) Messer ambitiously attempts to meld classic blues rock with turntables, loops and hip hop rhythms. Title track "Lucky Charms" mixes delta blues guitar stylings with Beck style drum loops and samples to oddly beguiling effect, recalling the maestro himself circa "Mellow Gold". "Take Me Back" meanwhile imagines the Stones after a glass of bourbon or three, it's unsteady on its feet and decidedly worse for wear but still undeniably charming at the same time. There's no doubting Messer's technical proficiency here but alas vocally he's rather weak and one wonders whether he'd have been wiser to have employed some help in this area. "Sad Side Of The Note" is a lively affair and features some quite remarkable slide guitar playing over a shuffling drum-beat and one can imagine it going down a storm when played live. "Sunflower Window" by contrast is a more prosaic blues affair, its analogue production perfectly suited to the task at hand. For all the earnest attempts at experimentation on display "Lucky Charms" does have the odd ill fated clunker. "Knife Song" in particular is a rather disjointed instrumental - its dated drum machine sound and inconsequential samples jarring against the sweet blues licks being showcased. "Steve Cropper" a homage to one of Messer and song writing partner Terry Clarke's rock 'n' roll heroes is a fairly standard good time blues rocker and consequently fails to ignite much enthusiasm in the listener. The smoky sounding "Havana Blues" (dedicated to Messer's much loved 1937 twelve string National 'Havana' guitar) though is the undoubted highlight of the album - a gentle acoustic number off-set by the occasional piano flourish that seems to suit Messer's cracked sounding vocals. "Son House" is slightly hindered by pedestrian percussion (a niggling worry throughout) but features some of the best guitar playing on the whole album. "Turning Blue" meanwhile further highlights that Messer sounds most comfortable when he's playing straightforward blues numbers and even features a few snatches of harmonica. The album closes with the excellent and aptly titled "Crackly Hums" a marvellous little instrumental that again showcases Messer's ability at interpreting the blues. The purposeful cracks and hisses alluded to in the title giving it that authentic 1930's feel. "Lucky Charms" is a brave attempt at updating the blues but for all his forward thinking Messer certainly sounds more at home on the more traditional numbers. It'll certainly be interesting to see what direction he heads in on his next release.