BLUES

Otis Taylor

Stacy Moore (ENLARGE)
Otis Taylor's 'Below the Fold,' heralded as 'trance blues,' displays the songwriter's angry and restless spirit with droning songs that burrow into the listener's psyche.
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"Below the Fold." Telarc. 10 tracks.

Grade: B-

Colorado singer-guitarist Otis Taylor has long been one of the blues' most restless souls. He's a restless and angry songwriter, and his songs work like screws, twisting and twisting and twisting their way into your psyche.

His new album, described on the cover as "trance blues," is just that, a collection of drones and moans. Guitar is present, but it's far from the only instrument here. The first song, "Feel Like Lightning," runs on a funky drum line and a screechy combination of banjo and fiddle. The last track is a harmonica-driven stomp. And in between is "Government Lied," a winding song about a grieving black mother whose son was killed in World War II, and whose government didn't seem to care.

— Nick Marino