Michael Messer - Second Mind
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Michael Messer is a scholar - he's just compiled Catfish's enchanting Classic Slide Guitar Vol 3: Hawaiian Guitar Masters - and by all accounts, a gentleman as well. I'd add that he's one of the most important bluesmen in Britain, and mightily relevant throughout the blues world. He has progressed from being an excellent technician - on the National Steel especially - with good touch and an eclectic palette of stylings to choose from; to being in
the vanguard of the 21st century blues. And that doesn't mean he has forsaken traditional values either.

Second Mind is book ended by two versions of the song Locomotive Skin. The opener is reminiscent of Skip McDonald and Adrian Sherwood's ambient-dub-blues outfit, Little Axe - it kicks in with a hefty funk beat, and is underscored by a turntablist scratching away on an unidentified vocal sample from some ancient Mississip' chanter - but the spirit of the Delta still breathes through these modernistic touches. The closing, hidden-track version
of the number, ghosts out of the charming, old-timey melodics of Painting The Blues - a cut which comes complete with a lovely, liquid, lap steel solo. The scratching is again an integral part of ...Skin, but this time it spars spookily with Messer's sparse country blues acoustic, and an age-old, yet timeless, vocal performance. The use of this framing
device sums up the breadth of Messer's musical vision. Tracks 2 to 12 travel to all points in between.

Blue Letters smoulders - Alan Whetton's smoky sax intertwines with Messer's sincere vocals. His voice quivers with the emotion of a young Buddy Guy, while Richard Causon's disjointed, jazzy piano fills reflect Messer's melancholy lyrics perfectly. Causon (who has worked with Ryan Adams), adds authenticity & Americana style throughout. Next up, Hummingbirds In My Soul has the feel of a joyful, techno-inflected, J.J.Cale. Difficult to
imagine I know, but buy it and you'll see what I mean, I promise! Big Wind incorporates another aspect of Messer's multi-faceted outlook: world music. The track resonates with an oriental vibe reminiscent of The Doors' The End, as used in Apocalypse Now. This is as much the Killing Fields as the Killing Floor. Swathes of scorching guitar sustain and feedback buffet other, more delicate, acoustic figures, while the lyrics tell the story of impending (environmental?) doom. Epic stuff. This leads straight into the sleazy, stomping, good-time R'n'B of Love - which wouldn't sound out of place on Exile On Main Street. When the ever-splendid Ruby Turner starts hollerin' in the background you know you're in honky-tonk heaven. Jinx Alright follows: a down-home, slide guitar driven,
Delta blues crammed full with musical and lyrical references to Son House, Robert Johnson and Arthur Crudup, amongst others.

Enough variety, already!! I hear you cry; and it can be a bit bewildering sometimes, but a few listens and it all makes perfect sense. A beautiful amalgam of history and foresight; musicality and grit; blues, boogie and beats - Second Mind is a work of near genius.
Joe Cushley "Blues Matters!" Oct' 02