Name: Black Eye Galaxy
Brand: ALLIGATOR RECORDS
SKU: 23602135
Price: 18.91 GBP
Availability: InStock

Black Eye Galaxy

Rating

Album: Black Eye Galaxy
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Send Me A Friend	More Info...
2)	Mind Of A Junkie	More Info...
3)	Lean On Me/Believe In You	More Info...
4)	When Will I See You Again	More Info...
5)	Black Tar	More Info...
6)	Black Eye Galaxy	More Info...
7)	Tracking My Roots	More Info...
8)	Louisiana Gold	More Info...
9)	Dancing In The Wind	More Info...
10)	Higher Ground	More Info...
2)	Mind of a Junkie	More Info...	0:07
3)	Lean On Me/Believe in You	More Info...	0:04
4)	When Will I See You Again?	More Info...	0:05
5)	Black Tar	More Info...	0:05
6)	Black Eye Galaxy	More Info...	0:11
7)	Tracking My Roots	More Info...	0:04
8)	Louisiana Gold	More Info...	0:05
9)	Dancing in the Wind	More Info...	0:04
10)	Higher Ground	More Info...	0:04

Album: Black Eye Galaxy
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Send Me A Friend	More Info...
2)	Mind Of A Junkie	More Info...
3)	Lean On Me/Believe In You	More Info...
4)	When Will I See You Again	More Info...
5)	Black Tar	More Info...
6)	Black Eye Galaxy	More Info...
7)	Tracking My Roots	More Info...
8)	Louisiana Gold	More Info...
9)	Dancing In The Wind	More Info...
10)	Higher Ground	More Info...
2)	Mind of a Junkie	More Info...	0:07
3)	Lean On Me/Believe in You	More Info...	0:04
4)	When Will I See You Again?	More Info...	0:05
5)	Black Tar	More Info...	0:05
6)	Black Eye Galaxy	More Info...	0:11
7)	Tracking My Roots	More Info...	0:04
8)	Louisiana Gold	More Info...	0:05
9)	Dancing in the Wind	More Info...	0:04
10)	Higher Ground	More Info...	0:04

Performer Notes

Personnel: Anders Osborne (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, piano, percussion); Billy Iuso (vocals, guitar); Eric Bolivar (vocals, drums, percussion); Carl Dufrene (vocals); Stanton Moore (drums, percussion); Sarah Osborne, Aria Iuso, Rose Osborne (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Warren Riker.
Recording information: Dockside Studio, Maurice LA (11/2011); Morrisound Recording, Tampa, FL (11/2011).
Photographers: Chris Davis ; Jayne Tansey-Patron; Alex Brahl.
Anders Osborne extended his reach as a guitarist, songwriter, and recording artist on his Alligator debut, American Patchwork, in 2010. It was louder, wilder, and more psychically free than anything he'd issued previously, while retaining his singer/songwriter skills so wonderfully displayed on 2007's Coming Down. Black Eye Galaxy is the culmination of this trilogy, albeit being a startlingly new entity. It seamlessly marries desperate, overloaded, molten hard rock and blues to expertly written songs that grow more tender, accepting, and optimistic by the set's close. Osborne creates something totally his own; genres cease to matter. Co-produced by Osborne, Stanton Moore, and engineer Warren Riker, the meld of sounds is immediate, gripping, sometimes harrowing, and always uncompromising no matter what is being expressed. The primal "Send Me a Friend" is a boatload of riff-and-roar. It's a redefinition of the blues regardless of whether it follows 12 bars. The song is about the complete isolation of addiction; it's a howl of terror and pleading to an unknown God with bludgeoning riffs and a ripping solo. "Mind of a Junkie" begins by crossing Neil Young & Crazy Horse with Wes Montgomery. Its lyrics reveal the cycle of addiction, recovery, relapse, and beginning again, the frustration and dangers and character flaws all expressed honestly and without artifice. Its angular guitar solo moves into a strange, lovely terrain, never leaving the soul of the tune behind. "Black Tar" is a slide guitar screamer; Osborne's vocals, plodding rhythm section, and effects just crackle, break, and crunch, without sacrificing melody in the punishing thud. The title track is a long, haunting, and labyrinthine psychedelic ballad, with gorgeous guitar and rhythm section interplay; it's a wellspring of inspired improvisation. Despite the brief respite of a gorgeous love song in the middle of all this, "Lean on Me/Believe in You," the first half of the record is pure stress, strain, and primal shriek. The set's final four songs are, by contrast, nearly serene, as the country-ish "Tracking My Roots" gives way to the acoustic traveling song "Louisiana Gold." The languid 4/4 love song that is "Dancing in the Wind" sets up the stellar closer. "Higher Ground" is like a gospel testament, but it's personal, not evangelical. With Stevie Blacke's sparse but nearly regal strings and backing vocals by Osborne's band, wife, and children, it's an anthem about the transformative power of love itself. Black Eye Galaxy rises from the depths of an individual's hell transformed via its songwriter's vision to the heights of possibility -- personally, poetically, and musically. It's the most consistent, expertly rendered offering in Osborne's catalog, the place where everything and everywhere he's been as a musician come together in a glorious whole. ~ Thom Jurek