12/16/07
MARK PUCCI MEDIA
BOB BROZMAN/Post Industrial Blues: He’s come a long way from his early days as a guitar hokum fan. Adding a world/blues element to his attack, he’s one of most well rounded cats out there. Bringing his vision of the blues to Ruf Records, this is a zesty set that shows him playing different styles on different guitars and letting the guitar fan just sit back and savor. Playing with a passion that should have burned out several years ago but just seems to burn brighter, Brozman just tickles your ears so nice. A solid set that is a marker for acoustic guitar players to try and top.
1133 (Ruf)
LUTHER ALLISON/Underground: Well here’s something you don’t see everyday, Edgar. What’s that Chauncey? Luther Allison’s first sides, never before released, originally produced by Bobby Rush. Damn, how much more west side can you get than that? Allison’s first 60’s recordings, certainly done before the hippies discovered him, finds him in full bore sub-Muddy mode firing up the blues for the down home crowd that just discovered electricity. A sizzling, youthful set that certainly has rough edges but delivers the kind of blues that blues fans keep kvetching there just isn’t enough of anymore.
1132 (Ruf)
DVD SUPPLEMENT
PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
RAWHIDE Second Season v. 2: The 16 episodes that made up the rest of the second season are remastered to get that black and white video popping. The trail bosses are in full gear, chasing guest stars around the range as the ride, rope and brand them, keeping them doggies on their toes. A nice slice of the golden age of the TV westerns, young Clint Eastwood comes to the fore of this presentation since he’s the one you know best these days. Plenty of drama on the dusty trail from an age when the masters of the universe were decidedly low tech and didn’t always have shiny shoes.
85252
WALT DISNEY
UNDERDOG: Do you remember Simon Barsinister being the reason Underdog got super powers? Because an experiment went wrong? I don’t either. In any case, it’s been a good decade since there were movies that were adapted from classic kid vid and the roll is rolling again. With Jason Lee taking over the Wally Cox part (the voice of Underdog), another classic kidvid comes to the screen and aging boomers will probably enjoy this nostalgia more than today’s kids will enjoy it as something new. With familiar tv people peopling the people part of the cast, this vid friendly release is a pleasing time passer that aims low, hit’s the target and makes popcorn taste a little better. Fun stuff that you’re really a goof if you try to take seriously.
54307
NATIONAL TREASURE: Jerry Bruckheimer is certainly a good natured hack but is he an under rated genius as well? Able to handle the big budget popcorn pic with the grace of a Lucas or Spielberg while doing with the speed of John Hughes, he knows how to take a popcorn pic and make it work. I wasn’t ready to believe Nic Cage as a later day Indiana Jones, but dang if Bruckheimer does make it work. With Cage having to out wit the bad guys under the streets of New York as the chase is on as to who can reach the treasure of the Templar’s first, you really get drawn into the set ups and double crosses as they keep unraveling and literally going deeper and deeper. Smartly done from start to finish, this two disc collectors edition is tailor made for the adventure/fantasy geek that really wants to get inside and behind the pic. The sure bet that it’s a winner is that it’s over two hours long and has repeatability. Wildly fun stuff.
55627
Volume 31/Number 46
December 16, 2007
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2007 Midwest Record