Andrew Bird
SouverianNoble Beast 2009 via Fat Possum
The Meters were an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their music from the late 1960s until 1977. While the band never enjoyed significant mainstream success, they are considered one of the progenitors of funk music, and their work influenced many other bands, both contemporary to their work, and after their heyday.
The Black Keys' singer-guitarist releases his self-produced solo debut, mixing, he says, "psychedelia, soul music, loud and soft guitars." Backed by a full band, he prowls the dark end of the street, with gritty, impassioned vocals lending drama to tales of romantic betrayal and suspicious minds.
f/ Taj Mahal
The first tune to drop off Michael Nau’s (who was once known as Page France and is now using the moniker Cotton Jones) January LP Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze) is a Doors-esque Sixties groove with a recession-ready title.