My World Is Gone

My World Is Gone

Otis Taylor nails down a singular sound that remains more traditional than the funhouse antics of Tom Waits and far more out there than most artists who claim to play the blues. His "trance blues" takes on added meaning throughout My World Is Gone. The album's title speaks of Native Americans and the shameful treatment they've received on their own lands, expressed with a quote by Taylor's musical partner on nearly half these tunes, Mato Nanji of Indigenous. The desolation and hard times, however, are universal, and nothing's more brutal than the dustbowl feel of "The Wind Comes In." "Blue Rain in Africa" adds a Hammond B-3 and electric guitars for full-color intensity. Even brighter is Ron Miles' cornet, which leads "Huckleberry Blues," a funk vamp in the vein of Gil Scott-Heron. "Girl Friend's House" balances banjo and cornet, with Taylor's husky incantations that upon seeing his wife in bed with another woman, he'd like to join in. "Coming with Crosses" labors for six minutes to evoke a true horror.

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