JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #641.284!

Paul Rodgers – Live At Montreux: 1994 (Eagle) :: Jeepers Mister Kent! Miss Lane and I were listening to this great new Paul Rodgers compact disc and you should have heard it when Brian May came out on “Good Morning Little School Girl” to shred our ears with some of the gnarliest guitar work you ever heard! Even better was when Mister Rogers did the mandatory crowd-pleasing closers of Bad Company’s “Can’t Get Enough” and Free’s “All Right Now”! But best of all was when he introduced the bass player by asking: “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s John Smithson”! What do you think of that, Mister Kent?

Black Country Communion – Black Country Communion 2 (Mascot) :: Well, Jimmy, it sounds to me like you’d also enjoy listening to the best hard rock band in the world.

Night Beats – Night Beats (Trouble In Mind) :: Monophonic beach blanket garage music that sounds like it was recorded by Kill Spector in his death row jail cell—and with song titles like “Dial 666” it probably was.

Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Donkey Jacket (Alive) :: Pudknockin’ power trios are so passé these days ’cause any plugged-in spuzz can make a ton of noise if he’s got two guys covering his amp. Luckily, the minimalist in me prefers a power duo just like this two-headed guitar and traps aggregation which cranks out more gritty and grimy blooze rock than you’ve got a legal right to hear, y’hear?

Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin (Trouble In Mind) :: Jing-janglin’ pop-infused guitar ditties lacquered with a charming patina of primitivism that’ll have you hunkered down and hankering for a hanky, they’re that heartfelt.

Radio Moscow – The Great Escape Of Leslie Magnafuzz (Alive) :: This heavy funked-up fuzzbox-infused excursion into the ether is so chock full o’unexpected sonic delights it sounds like some kinda illegitimate sonic offspring of Iron Butterfly and Kyuss. Or is that Blue Cheer and Grand Funk? Either way, it’s so terminally trippy that you’ll get a contact high just by listening to it.

SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK: Nathanial Mayer – Why Won’t You Let Me Be Black? (Alive) :: What’s that? You want to talk about what? Soul? What about soul? You think you know soul? You don’t know soul. You’ve got what? Stax? Motown? Please. Don’t embarrass yourself. That’s not soul. That’s showbiz. As processed as a pomaded ’do. You want soul? You want Nat Mayer. Now that’s soul. Rough. Raw. Soul. Of course he looks old. Man lived almost six and a half decades before he went to see the Lord. He’s doing more for soul dead than you’re doing alive. What’s that? Well, you could listen to his record for one thing. Might learn something. Be like soaking your head in some brains. What’s that?

Be seeing you!