Shared Address is a home for the blues

 SHARED ADDRESS                      ANNIE (2020)

 

Curious how these things work. I attend a Gerald Clark gig and afterwards research Apple Music to see how much of his music is there and then come across a connection with Shared Address who toured with him a couple of years ago and on whose album he’s a featured vocalist on the track  “Maybe I’m a Fool.”

 

Shared Address biography tells me they’re  a Bloemfontein based duo of Joudie on guitar, mandolin, harmonica and stompbox. and Maureen on vocals and
percussion, whose music blends folk, blues, country and jazz ad who are inspired by the likes of Muddy Waters, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, BB King, Shovels and Rope, Jimi Hendrix, Jack White, Larkin Poe, amongst others.  A little bit old,  a little bit new.

 

What we have here is a very entertaining,  rootsy yet contemporary, stomping take on blues, with nods to soul and gospel, 

 

Maureen’s voice is reminiscent of Shelby Lynne, originally a country artist whose music mutated into another version of some of the same blues, country and rock influences Shared Address reference, and she has those same powerful pipes to energise the fast songs or to infuse emotional depth to the slow tunes.

 

“Maybe I’m a Fool,” a duet between Clark and Maureen is one of slow songs in a set of otherwise upbeat blues stompers and Clark, as usual, demonstrates why he is one of South Africa’s best soul blues  singers, a slightly melancholic foil to Maureen’s more strident approach which works exceptionally well on the rocking  blues.

 

“The Busker” Is the other slow one, a melodic soul/gospel anthem, with (I’m guessing) Joudie putting in his two cent’s worth on vocals too.

 

For the rest, the album is just upbeat, often raucous, juke joint fun.

 

 

Shelter from Patlansky

 Dan Patlansky                                  Shelter of Bones (2022)

 

A new Patlansky album drops every few years and the question is: why? He is a technically gifted guitarist and knows how to write a riff and arrange a chord progression and must believe that he ought to keep on writing songs and releasing records for the sake of his career, but apart from fully leaving straight ahead blues behind and shifting to a tough blues rock sound, there hasn’t been much innovation in his music over the past decade. Worse, the songs on the various albums are kind of interchangeable and none of them are memorable. All too often the opening riff is the best, most catching part of the track and then it’s just more of the same, with his gruff, sincere vocal style and proficient fretwork that prove that technical ability alone cannot evoke a visceral, emotional response in the listener.

 

Here we have more muscular riffing and gruff vocals, blues based solos and some ghostly Stevie Ray Vaughan echoes in Patlansky’s patented technically slick style of bombastic blues rock.  You’ve got to admire his industry and skill but by now the style has become so entrenched, that the contents of each album come and go without much impact because he’s not a quirky enough songwriter and doesn’t have much gift for vocal melody.  

Having said that, the slow, soul ballads “Lost” and “Sweet Memories” are the best tracks on the record. The title track is philosophically introspective, oddly reminiscent of the Arno Carstens style and obviously intended to be a major statement to conclude the album and quite affecting, though also a tad lyrically clichéd.  For the rest, the arrangements and riffs are respectively intricate and powerful but there are no memorable hooks and very little sticks in the mind once one is done listening.

Patlansky obviously works hard at his career and may be commended for that but surely won’t be remembered  for writing and recording a body of iconic, classic tunes. He’s not a genius musician, has no intriguing musical quirks and relies too much on how well he plays the guitar.  Some people are dazzled by lengthy, intricate solos with an avalanche of notes and licks but when the songs they’re supposed to serve aren’t strong enough, the virtuosity  eventually grates rather than gratifies.

Patlansky loyalists would like this album and neophytes might as well buy this release, instead of earlier releases, to bring them up to speed on the Patlansky sound, and then never need buy any other.  Shelter of Bones is not particularly enjoyable, and is unnecessary and disposable.