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LOTOS NILE MEDIA
OWEN TEMPLE/Two Thousand Miles: One of the signs that Texas is a whole other country is that you can have cats down there that are stars without being stars. This guitar slinging songwriter fits the mold of the greats that have come before him whether Walt Wilkins or Butch Hancock. Back from a stay in grad school after being bummed by his distributor going broke without playing him, Temple has become a total cottage industry and hasn’t let it take anything off his music making. With enough passion in his work to be one of the Texas cats that breaks through nationally, Lloyd Maines reliable production provides the right setting for such a thing to come together. This is the kind of set that makes you quite self satisfied for knowing about it before everyone else.
(El Paisano)
MARK PUCCI MEDIA
RONNIE EARL & the Broadcasters/Hope Radio: The award winning guitar man celebrates 20 years with this band in tow by kicking out an instrumental tour de force assuring his continued high flying status in the blues and instrumental worlds. Fearless tipping the cap to influences and heroes without being derivative, this is the kind of work that separates the men from the boys. Whether raw and searing or beguiling, Earl makes the most of the experience under his belt and fills your ears with some of the greatest sounds coaxable. A real treat for guitar fans that like their shredding turned down a notch but like it hot nonetheless.
1324 (Stony Plain)
PALO DURO
TOMMY ALVERSON/Country to the Bone: The Alverson produced tribute to “Viva Terlingua” put him on our radar and not a moment too soon. Now in the 10th year of putting on a Willie style Texas music festival, this set is a limited festival edition and it shows there’s still a lot the net can be exploited for. There isn’t much hint of Nashville on this Texas set that sounds like some of the best Texas stuff we’ve heard over the years that never seems to creep much north of the panhandle. Good time music, very well played, this is a regional record that mixes a lot of regions into the mix and makes a great companion for a long drive through uninterrupted stretches. A certified under the radar winner.
1605
SOULFOOD
SOULFOOD/SpaScapes-Massage: As massage gets more and more mainstream and available in the outer reaches of exurbia, DJ Free realized just a little tweak to the Soulfood vibe would yield a set that would go great with massage and would be light years ahead of the drippy stuff massage therapists tend to gravitate toward thinking that annoying shit will relax you. Putting a Paul Winter vibe to good use, this is easy and peaceful music as opposed to easy noize, that let’s you listen or drift away. Since the crew is already ubiquitous and award wining, it’s a nice segway for them to leap into this arena. Well done.
32
Volume 31/Number 15
November 15, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2007 Midwest Record
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