Twenty-four seven. We listen to the the worst to bring you the best.
This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that I'm gonna rant about the genius that is Fat Possum. Until they start puttin' out manufactured crap, which is highly unlikely, I will continue to bow, grovel and slobber at their feet. In an age where bland, by-the-numbers guitar slingers are foisted upon us by music execs in Beverly Hills, Fat Possum remains a breath of fresh air as old as the mud along the banks of the Mississippi. Whatever that is. I don't care how well someone can mimic note-for-note (mr. lang? hello?), Blues was never really about that, was it? I'm no Robert Palmer (the writer, not the singer), but I know what blues I like. And I like it Possum-style.
In a roster that's overful of (now) legends (R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Black Keys, T-Model Ford, Bob Log, etc.), it's easy to lose sight of some of the more minor artists on the label. Paul "Wine" Jones, Robert Belfour, Cedell Davis, Elmo Williams. And Robert Cage. Oh my, yes. Like Elmo Williams and Scott Dunbar, whom he originally styled himself after, Cage is a "grunter" (his words). Imagine Lightnin' Hopkins and Howlin' Wolf smashed together, given a shitty amp which bends and distorts every note when turned up to 11, and told to hump that geetar into overdrive...right to the cliff and keep going. That'd be a start. And his voice is just haunted. Haunted by sex and menace, that is. Cage was a diesel mechanic. Make of that what you will.
Rawk. On yr back porch.
Robert Cage: Get Outta Here (mp3)
Robert Cage: Bundle Up and Go (mp3)
(yousendit files...click on target. download from site.)
I refuse to link to certain large, oppressive online retailers. I also refuse to acknowledge the slightly elitist idea that music is only for the wealthy. If you have some spare cash after you've paid yr rent, mortgage, bills, student loans, bar tab, etc., and like the music of Robert Cage, you can purchase his music direct from Fat Possum's shop or support yr local independent record store. Some directories can be found here (unfortunately sponsored by Sony)and here.
2 comments:
Rant away about Fat Possum - they rock (in a raw, recording-in-the-kitchen-with-the-amp-plugged-into-a-sparkin'-multi-tap-with-six-or-seven-other-appliances kind of way.) I discovered them through the Asie Payton 'Worried' CD. Getting him down on record was truly God's work on their part. Love the Robert Cage tracks. I guess I'll be sending more money their way!
Good to see a fellow Fat Possum fan in the mp3 blog world, most of my FP collection is on the other side of the world (from me) so you'll have to wave the flag for the two of us. And cheers for the link too.
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