It’s been raining for weeks here in California and nothing goes great with a gray Monday like the Blues. Blues as an art form is one that I appreciate almost speechlessly in its ability to evoke emotions and unlike country which has stories about pickup trucks and America, blues songs are almost always about the most important subject of all time, broken hearts. My friend hit it right on the head when he said that the best music is sad music and it’s totally true. Secretly I’m sure that’s why I despise modern pop songs full of bubble gum love intrigues that would set a thirteen year old girl on fire. What we really need is music that describes what love is really about and that’s usually unrequited, blisteringly painful, heartbreaks with a hole where the heart was and a stain on the ground where it got stepped on.

Of the two major styles of blues, I tend to prefer the more downtempo “coffee shop” variety that focuses on an acoustic sound with only minor accompaniment if any at all. Piano or acoustic guitar led blues is by far my favourite and I tend to focus more on lyrics with these less stand out instruments. I also thoroughly enjoy blues jazz perfect since it’s popular with female blues singers. What I can’t say I’m much of a fan of is the more upbeat electric guitar and full band blues style of legendary BB King and Eric Clapton, although a few of their songs are pretty good.

Today’s release includes a number of my favourite blues songs. My number one male vocal blues song is Staggolee featured on the Death Proof soundtrack, and my number one female vocal choice is Black Coffee followed very closely by the heavily jazz influenced River of Crystals. When it comes to classic blues Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and T-Bone Walker have it covered and there’s nothing bad I can say about any of their songs. Most surprising for most on this collection is Dick Dale and Frank Zappa, both musicians that I love primarily for their electric guitar skills that temporarily left their regular styles to pay homage to one of the most fundamental building blocks of all rock music, Blues. Soulwax, the indie electro rock band from Ghent said that in order to be a great DJ, you have to be good at playing punk music first. And I add to that that in order to be a great punker you’ve gotta know your blues. Blues is where it all started and that’s all there is to it. Enjoy.

1. First Time I Met the Blues - Buddy Guy

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2. Front Porch Blues - Dick Dale

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3. Merely A Blues in A - Frank Zappa

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4. Back Door Man - Howlin Wolf

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5. River of Crystals - Kimikoh Itoh

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6. Hoochie Coochie Man - Muddy Waters

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7. What Will Become of Me (Lost Sleep in the Fold) - Otis Spann

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8. Staggolee - Pacific Gas and Electric

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9. Black Coffee - Patricia Kaas

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10. Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker

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