Omar & The Howlers 2004 Boogie Man

Genre: Blues
Rate: 272 kbps VBR / 44100
Time: 00:54:43
Size: 104,55 MB



review by Hal Horowitz

With his gravelly vocals that fall between Wolfman Jack and Howlin' Wolf, along with an ever-changing band of Howlers, Kent "Omar" Dykes charges through more rootsy boogie, blues, and rock & roll. For his first album of original material in four years, Dykes invited professional songwriters Darden Smith, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Stephen Bruton, and Alejandro Escovedo to co-write these 11 tunes. That not only elevates the quality of the tracks -- especially lyrically -- but also adds dashes of country and folk-rock to the mix. It diversifies but does not diminish Omar's gritty sound, and makes this one of his most accomplished and exciting recordings. Guest Howlers like guitarists Chris Duarte, Jon Dee Graham, and Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne, along with Stevie Ray Vaughan's old Double Trouble rhythm section, and Zappa/Jeff Beck drummer Terry Bozzio all contribute to the bone-shaking proceedings.

Dykes is fiery throughout, especially on the thumping Bo Diddley-inspired "Shakin'," and the Canned Heat/John Lee Hooker punch of the title cut. Even road songs "That's Just My Life" and "Mississippi Mud" resonate, despite their clichéd subject matter. Omar includes social commentary on "White Crosses" -- one of two Darden Smith co-writes he croons instead of howls with his usual bluster. The relatively subtle shuffle of "Drowning in Love" and the slow blues of the six-minute closing "All the Love We Can Stand" also alter the mood, giving the album some much-needed relief from the energized swamp stomp that dominates its attack. Boogie Man provides a perfect entry point for those new to the Omar experience, and a rollicking addition to those already entranced by his mighty mojo.



Tracklist:

01 - Boogie Man 05:03

02 - Bamboozled 04:28

03 - Stone Cold Blues 05:27

04 - White Crosses 04:54

05 - Drowning In Love 03:47

06 - Shakin' 05:54

07 - Right There In The Rain 04:11

08 - Bad In A Good Way 05:21

09 - That's Just My Life 04:36

10 - Mississippi Mud 04:36

11 - All The Love We Can Stand 06:26





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Omar & The Howlers 2006 Bamboozled - Live In Germany

Genre: Blues
Rate: 128 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 01:14:11
Size: 67,78 MB



review by Steve Leggett

Mississippi-born but Texas-based Omar Kent Dykes understands a fundamental fact about modern electric blues. He knows there are only a handful of rhythms and themes in the blues grab bag, and he uses them all over and over again in slightly different guises. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The blues has lasted this long because it's supposed to sound like the blues, and if you stretch it too far you end up with something like prog rock. It is this fundamental conservatism of the blues and its limited palette that has kept the form alive long after its colorful offspring (R&B, soul, rock & roll etc.) have flown the roost, taking a large part of the audience with them. But Omar understands all this. He has had a 30-year career playing these rhythms, and he knows how to keep it all simple, direct, and powerful, and how to build new songs out of the fabric of the old songs without destroying their familiarity.

Bamboozled, a live set recorded at the Musa in Gottingen, Germany on October 20, 2005, finds Omar & the Howlers looking back over that 30 years of bars, sheds, and studios and hitting some of the high points. The opener, "Shake for Me," pretty much sets the tone with its gritty and overdriven guitar tone and harsh, ragged vocals that sound a bit like Wolfman Jack fronting a Texas blues trio. Omar slows things down for a couple of tracks here, like "East Side Blues" and the resonant "South Congress Blues," but pretty much the Howlers keep things chugging at a brisk pace as Omar trots out the Bo Diddley rhythm for "Magic Man," dips into the John Lee Hooker bag of rhythm tricks for his tribute to Hooker, "Boogie Man," continually recycling the history of the blues into a solid, 70-some minute example of what a modern blues band does. A clear highlight is the ominous, swampy realism of "Muddy Springs Road," which is informed by Omar's childhood memories growing up in McComb, MS, and it is easily one of the best songs he's ever written, bringing the personal and autobiographical to the familiar rhythmic structure of the blues.

This is what the best blues is supposed to do: locate the personal within a familiar framework that everyone -- band and audience -- understands. If Omar has a fault as a writer, it is that he doesn't do this enough, all too often falling prey to the easy clichés that seem to be part and parcel of the blues. Keeping things fresh while still keeping things familiar inside a tradition is a hard thing to do. On "Muddy Springs Road," Omar & the Howlers walk that line perfectly.

On the video you can see the complete concert! Therefore no pre-listening tracks. Get this video with JDownloader





Tracklist:

01 - Shake For Me 02:23

02 - Mississippi Hoo Doo Man 05:17

03 - Bamboozled 05:01

04 - East Side Blues 06:04

05 - Magic Man 06:01

06 - South Congress Blues 05:57

07 - Boogie Man 04:32

08 - Muddy Springs Road 04:55

09 - That's Just My Life 03:49

10 - Snake Oil Doctor 06:12

11 - Bad Seed 03:04

12 - Wall Of Pride 03:13

13 - Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty 04:16

14 - Monkey Land 06:55

15 - Rock 'n' Roll Ball 06:32





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Omar & The Howlers 1995 World Wide Open

Genre: Rock
Rate: 128 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:45:25
Size: 41,47 MB



review by Thom Owens

Supported by a new batch of Howlers, Omar Dykes doesn't show any signs of wear and tear on World Wide Open. The band continues to turn out a gut-busting mixture of blues and dirty rock & roll, occasionally sounding like Howlin' Wolf, other times like the Stones or Creedence Clearwater Revival. As always, the quality of songs is slightly inconsistent but the band never sounds tired -- they perform with as much energy, if not more, than they ever have.



Tracklist:

01 - Mystery Walk 03:50

02 - Hey Joe 03:38

03 - Sugar Ditch 05:00

04 - Mail Order Mojo 02:43

05 - Got My Heart Set On You 02:57

06 - Low Down Dirty Blues 04:27

07 - Highway 49 04:26

08 - Fire In The House 04:10

09 - Red River 03:37

10 - No More Cane 03:36

11 - Enough Is Enough 03:39

12 - World Of Trouble 03:22





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