Pushin My Luck
Memphis-based bluesman Robert Belfour's second album is a bit vexing. He's an appealing singer whose deep, cotton-mouthed voice has plenty of rough charisma, and he bawls out every line with the despair of a haunted man. When Belfour sings "I stayed awake all night, waiting for my baby to come home," in "Stayed Awake," he's utterly believable. The raw, woody tones of his acoustic guitar are pleasing, too. The trouble is his arrangements are virtually interchangeable. On all 10 of these songs Belfour's guitar repeats same-sounding sliding notes and arpeggios over the single-chord drone that defines the blues of his native North Mississippi. There's no slide, few variations in his patterns, and--despite primal drumming on some tracks--little change in tempos throughout the entire album. This would be a very dull recording, indeed, if not for the way these elements begin to blur into a kind of trance-inspiring signature that often recalls traditional African string music, especially in "Sweet Brown Sugar" and "Pushin' My Luck." Still, if you're looking for something more than mild musical hypnosis, this disc falls short.--Ted Drozdowski