Chapter 4 - Buffalo Nichols

Chapter 4 - Buffalo Nichols 


Tonight we get the real deal, my first listen to the self-titled debut of Buffalo Nichols. The vinyl i bought won't get here until December, but my bearded visage down there in the lower left-hand corner is just begging everyone to join me over at his bandcamp page: 


I'm told we're in for some proper 21st-century Blues (i even managed to work an oblique Doors reference in here, how cool is that?) guitar from a world traveling man connecting to his heritage. It's "the soundtrack to a wandering soul." 

Before we get there, though, i did an interestingly serendipitous thing. See, this was a staff pick from Plaid Room Records over in Ohio, and i instead went straight to his bandcamp page to buy it. I feel conflicted. I don't feel bad for choosing to support a musician in a way i think lets them keep more of the money i paid for it, i feel bad for not rewarding that lovely group of fellow record lovers. So, in the off chance that one or both read this review after i tag them, Plaid Room Records send an invoice for any record of your choosing to bottleofbeefmusic.gmail.com and i will buy it blindfolded, Buffalo Nichols (i can't seem to find a way to properly tag your facebook page so i'll put it in the comments) that's how i found your album and i hope you enjoy my honest to goodness first listen that accounts for at least one of however many complete listens to every track shows up in your bandcamp stats. 

First, the drool started flowing for the first track. Second, that chord progression from Sick Bed Blues is the most haunting thing I've ever heard, and i'm the guy who published a skeleton's piano recital. Third, if you listen to half as much Blues from the 30s and 40s as i have, you will definitely know that variety has degraded to trash can fodder. Mr. Nichols is like my memories of pulling the stamens out of honeysuckle flowers and tasting that sweet floral nectar in the Summers of my childhood. 21st century don't mean anything to me either, my friend i've never met. 

By pure coincidence, the Governor of Oklahoma chose to commute the death sentence today. Every journey back from the depths of hell has to have a first step, so here's hoping my home state keeps walking forward and gets back to some quantitative proximity to "reasonable doubt." 

Now back to the point. This is chapter 4 of my facebook book dedicated to self-titled debut albums. Hold on, gotta start this amazing album again, it's that good. 

Ok, variety. There's way more to the Blues than that tired old 12-bar AAB big-business textbook form. Oh man, those chromatic fills and harmonic twists of Living Hell make my brain tingle. Dude, this is fantastic. I was trying to point out that he pushes it back to track 3 and basically reinvents the formula. Oh that swooping top line of These Things is so melencholy, and the strings, Screw it, i can't write while this masterpiece is playing. This is phenomenal. Seriously, i beg you all to go check out this album. So good. So so good. Can't wait for the actual record to get here, but wait i shall.

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