Respect the Dead

Taylor's slightly hoarse, husky voice seems risen from the Delta mud. It's a mighty instrument, whispering and wailing--sometimes, thanks to careful mixing, sounding like a ghost slipping through the cracks of time. And he's an even better musician-arranger, whose command of slide guitar and effects makes for shivery peals that underpin the drama of his singing, and who maps out an entirely new vocabulary for electric banjo. Churning one-chord Mississippi blues, African rhythms, and electronically intensified guitar riffs all blend into a terrain no other contemporary bluesman is exploring. In fact, this may be the sound of genius. --Ted Drozdowski