"Nu-blues" - huh?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Impending disaster, as I foolishly agre to dj at an 'nu-blues' event without having any concept of what the 'genre' actually is.. Anybody willing to help out with a definition, or at least pour scorn on my ineptitude and considerable chance of abject failure? Are we talking hours of White Stripes / Tom Waits / PJ Harvey / Beefheart, or can I bend this to something more psychadelic-y and interesting to avoid me wanting to gouge out my own eyeballs with a sharp fork by the end of the night? Any help appreciated...

― whose blues anyway?, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 09:40 (eighteen years ago)

fat possum stuff?

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 22:07 (eighteen years ago)

play lots of ornette, some beefheart, and the michael idov gg allin cover.

― dan, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 22:18 (eighteen years ago)

Black Keys

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 22:40 (eighteen years ago)

No Neck Blues Band!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 22:40 (eighteen years ago)

I mean it sounds like a joke genre to me, I'd just have fun with it and make up my own definition and include a lot of recent weird stuff with "blues overtones" or whatever.

who were those sub-Beefheart guys that opened for Pavement and got booed all the time? those guys.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 22:41 (eighteen years ago)

jon spencer blues explosion?

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 22:44 (eighteen years ago)

blues control.

― ian, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 23:44 (eighteen years ago)

blues creation?

― ian, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 23:44 (eighteen years ago)

fingers inc?

― lfam, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 23:49 (eighteen years ago)

BLUES TRAVELER?

― river wolf, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 23:57 (eighteen years ago)

Otis Taylor
James "Blood" Ulmer
Studebaker John
Little Axe
Olu Dara
Lee Boys
Campbell Brothers
North Mississippi All-Stars
Jonathan Kane
Tetuzi Akiyama
Dave Specter And The Bluebirds
Super Chikan

― Stormy Davis, Tuesday, 17 April 2007 23:59 (eighteen years ago)

plenty of good stuff out there without being all Hi Dere I are Hipster I Like Fat Possum

was that Pavement opening band Polar Goldie Cats? I don't think they would have been booed tho

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:01 (eighteen years ago)

plenty of good stuff out there without being all Hi Dere I are Hipster I Like Fat Possum

i wish i knew more about "regular" new blues music. is there good stuff out there? the only shit i ever hear is like dudes like kenny wayne shepard that get played on my local classik rock station sometimes.

i guess i thought a nite called "nu blues" was probably going to want all hipster i like fat possum stuff.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:07 (eighteen years ago)

well you could play that stuff too! Lotsa great stuff on that label. But there is other stuff too that is worthy of consideration that nobody ever seems to talk about, which sorta bums me out. I think three or four of my fave albums of the last couple years could be called "nu-blues" albums (Blood Ulmer, Lee Boys, White Stripes..) Like everybody knows who Ulmer is but nobody talked about that amazing Birthright album he did, that thing's awesome..

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:14 (eighteen years ago)

anyway I was mainly trying to throw some ideas out there for thread-starter dude.

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

is any modern blues stuff worth hearing, like "uncool" actual blues for blues dorks niche type stuff (ulmer's always been kind of a hipster fav)...maybe lee boys?

― M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:16 (eighteen years ago)

Opening for Pavement? Booed all the time?

Trumans Water? Railroad Jerk?

― Brooker Buckingham, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 00:40 (eighteen years ago)

hmmm .. uncool new blues ..well a couple of those guys I mentioned would probably qualify, John Studebaker and Dave Specter, local Chicago guys who ply some nice sounding blues without a lot of annoying technical flash. Specter has a bunch of albums on Delmark, none of which I've heard in their entirety but live he is real enjoyable. there's another guy Matthew Skoller who has a nice sound. but yeah, these are local guys I know, I wouldn't know their stature within any sort of broader blues scene, or even how much of one exists at this point. I would actually like to hear from people who know local blues guys that are pretty good and worth checking out. I don't know who on ilx that would be -- Curmudgeon and Edd Hurt maybe. but yeah the flashy shit sucks. there's this guy I heard who's Luther Allison's son -- Bernard Allison -- and he's just horrible with that overplaying shit.

the Lee Boys, I dunno if they are uncool -- it's technically sacred steel I guess. the guy is a shredder but it's a lot more fun sounding on a steel guitar. It seems like that stuff has been picked up by the jam band kids so I guess that makes it pretty uncool at this point.

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 01:19 (eighteen years ago)

anyway I was mainly trying to throw some ideas out there for thread-starter dude.

Thread-starter dude is very, very grateful for all your suggestions.. Impending disaster averted. You all rule.

― whose blues anyway?, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 14:09 (eighteen years ago)

Look up all the stuff Jimbo Mathus is doing. There's the Afrossippi project, the various Kimbrough and Burnside kids...

There's also the North Mississippi All-Stars (tainted by jamband associations, I know, but a great band), a locally legendary band in Houston called Jug O'Lightnin', Mr Airplane Man from Boston (all-girl blues duo), and you could make a case for Two Gallants. Chris Whitley fit here too.

I would mix in some of the old stuff the Guitar Center blooze dawgz have been ignoring for lo these many years, like Hound Dog Taylor, Robert Nighthawk, Champion Jack Dupree, Johnny Guitar Watson and some of the Malaco stuff as well.

― novamax, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 16:12 (eighteen years ago)

ultimate force - i'm not playin
that nas joint with his dad
that shawnna joint that samples her dad

― and what, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 16:16 (eighteen years ago)

http://bluescritic.com/ the online home of blues and southern soul

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)

does this tag apply to dudes like Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart (both not bad at all, if'n you're in the mood), and I guess Keb' Mo (*snore*)? And I suppose current chitlin circuit folks on Malaco and the likes...

I've seen Jimbo a couple of times with his Knockdown Society and it was pretty ok. OTOH I saw him sit in once with Jack Oblivian's Tearjerkers and and once with NMAS (before they got all big and bloated and jammy) and he was a freakin monster.

― will, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 16:29 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.ilxor.com:8080/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=36597

The "Chitlin Circuit Double-entendre -filled Soul 2004 (and onward) Theodis Easley's "Stand Up In It" is a song of the year" thread with links to bluesy soul and soulful blues.

Did anybody mention Chris Thomas King from Louisiana? His work is kinda uneven and across the map, but he might fit.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 16:41 (eighteen years ago)

upthread (re: booed Pavement opener) I was thinking of US Maple

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 16:44 (eighteen years ago)

Like everybody knows who Ulmer is but nobody talked about that amazing Birthright album he did, that thing's awesome.

GREAT fucking record, but isn't the OP asking for more upbeat sorta nu-Jump stuff?

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 20:38 (eighteen years ago)

But then I guess that's just me projecting "dance" onto "DJ."

Play 'em "High Yellow"! Let 'em riot!

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 18 April 2007 20:40 (eighteen years ago)

the new Ulmer, The Piety Street Sessions, would be perfect nu-blooze I think. I still love him better when he's harmolodic but that's a long time ago. This guy Ellis Hooks in Nashville is pretty good; Corey Harris; Alvin Youngblood Hart. Even some of Bettye LaVette and Candi Staton's last records.

― whisperineddhurt, Friday, 20 April 2007 22:56 (eighteen years ago)

us maple is a blues band if you look at it the right way

― M@tt He1ges0n, Friday, 20 April 2007 23:31 (eighteen years ago)

Mr Airplane Man from Boston

yes

― félix pié, Saturday, 21 April 2007 00:48 (eighteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.