B.B. King
“One Kind Favor”
Geffen Records
With his 24th studio album, it’s pretty safe to say B.B. King has nothing left to prove. He’s one of the greatest — if not the greatest — blues musicians of all time, a highly accomplished guitarist and, at age 82, a stalwart in his profession.
To stay relevant in the music industry for 50-plus years is impressive, but King tops even that, continuing to release superb albums.
“One Kind Favor” is no exception. It’s an extremely enjoyable blues album for any level of listener. If you’re going to give blues a try, King’s not a bad starting point.
With his advancing years, it comes as no surprise that he’s at least a little bit fixated on death throughout the album. But he’s not dead yet.
“No matter how many hearts you have broken / No matter how many tears you’ve made fall / I still love you / Baby, I’m waiting for your call,” he sings.
Still alive and kicking. And so is the music.
4.5/5 stars
Phil Pritchett and the Full Band
“Cool and Unusual Punishment Live”
Spitune Records
Fort Worth-based Phil Pritchett has released several albums since this 2004 live recording, but it’s an appropriate introduction to the country rocker and his “full band” of two others.
“Cool and Unusual Punishment” is full of songs that don’t stray far from the red dirt country sound, but what Pritchett lacks in variety, he more than makes up for in energy. The album sounds rough in spots, but overall, it represents what I imagine to be the typical Pritchett show – rowdy, raucous and fun.
Add that to some clever songwriting from Pritchett, as well as Cross Canadian Ragweed, Willie Nelson and Sublime covers, and you have a live album that’s the exception – worth listening to.
Or, you can experience Pritchett in person Sept. 18 at Brother’s Eatery & Pub in Norman.
3.5/5 stars
Early Beat
“Early Beat”
Giant Squid Lives Records
Distortion is the name of the game on the seven-song debut from Norman-based Early Beat. There are plenty of languishing guitars and slinking vocals to be found on the disc, making the brief 19-minute runtime feel much longer.
The unhurried, meandering nature of it all works — sort of — but this type of thing seems more suited to a live performance. Early Beat has crafted its own unique sound, sure, but at times, it’s more noise than anything.
3/5 stars
Bart Davenport
“Palaces”
Antenna Farm Records
On one of his obnoxiously titled tracks, “Jon Jon,” Bart Davenport sings “stop trying so hard to be cool.” Unfortunately, he doesn’t follow his own advice. Ever.
“Palaces” is one big, desperate attempt to achieve some kind of coolness, relevance or ironic cleverness — and that’s annoying.
Davenport appears to be some type of wannabe indie pop crooner – Bublé and Sinatra meet Belle and Sebastian – but the whole thing comes off as the exact opposite of clever. It’s contrived.
Davenport manages to sing in his lower range decently enough, and there are plenty of ill-placed beeps and boops to distract from the grating lyrics, but the tone of the album is still incredibly schizophrenic and there’s just no excuse for some of these song titles. “Yoshi,” “Wombat’s Room,” “Lil’ Bunny.” Come on now.
Someone needs to tell this guy to stop trying so hard. Someone besides himself.
1.5/5 stars
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GrahamLeeBrewer 3 years, 8 months ago
Dusty Somers couldn't have been more wrong on his Early Beat review. He completely missed the mark. First of all, "distortion is the name of the game..." is a terrible way to describe the album. Early Beat's debut is melodic, multi-faceted, and anything but dominated by distortion. In fact the albums is extremely dulcet and relaxed at times. Somers goes on to say that the album "seems more suited to a live performance." That statement is flawed. How does an album that is as multi-layered and intricate as this convey better live? That makes little sense to me. Unlike Mr. Somers, I have seen Early Beat live, and their sets are very straight-forward rock oriented, and even border on punk. Lastly, going on to say that the album is at times more noise than anything shows just how lacking Mr. Somers' knowledge of music that was made before 1995 really is.