CD Reviews

North Mississippi Allstars

Hernando | Songs of the South

By TED DROZDOWSKI | January 22, 2008

3.5 Stars

Since abandoning their original template of refurbishing R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough numbers, this rock-blues-jam trio have tried different tacks. Polaris (2003) capably worked the Allman Brothers’ mojo; the hippie blowout Electric Blue Watermelon (2005) bared their weak songwriting. This time they’ve hit on a more original strain blending the slimy supercharged guitar tones of stoner rock with old-school boogie and roll. Production by the father of drummer Cody Dickinson and guitarist Luther Dickinson, roots legend Jim Dickinson, adds to the filth: it’s as if Luther — who now also plays lead with the Black Crowes — had packed his amps with kudzu and mud. And that’s an aptly evil sonic match for the lust and malice in “Shake” and “Keep the Devil Down” and the living hell of Hurricane Katrina that’s conjured in “Soldier.” Things mellow out mid disc, but then the greasy slide workout “Take Yo Time, Rodney” leads the band back to a life of wanton crime and sonic grime.

North Mississippi Allstars + Alvin Youngblood Hart | Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | January 27 | 617.931.2000

Related: Memphis all star, Beyond the White Stripes, Crossword: 'You're a Tiger', More

Topics: CD Reviews , Junior Kimbrough, The Black Crowes, Allman Brothers, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY TED DROZDOWSKI

TOM HAMBRIDGE | BOOM! | August 23, 2011
Roots rock is the new country and ex-Bostonian Tom Hambridge is the style's current MPV.

COUNTRY STRONG | SOUNDTRACK | January 11, 2011
This steaming pile of songs is emblematic of the state of mainstream country music — all artifice, no heart, calculated anthems written to formula and meant, like the film itself, to do no more than capitalize on the genre's current success and rob its undiscriminating fans.

MARC RIBOT | SILENT MOVIES | November 02, 2010
This exceptional, eccentric guitarist has traced a slow evolution from screamer to dreamer.

IN MEMORIAM: SOLOMON BURKE, 1940 — 2010 | October 11, 2010

REVIEW: RONNIE EARL AND THE BROADCASTERS | SPREAD THE LOVE | September 07, 2010
Boston-based blues-guitar virtuoso Ronnie Earl seems to be considering his past on his 23rd album as a leader.