Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Samuel Blues
Label: Self-released
Release: 2018
Length: 32:29
Rating: 4/5
Samuel Blues is the alter ego of Jesenice musician Samo Pivač. The guy is a seriously ambitious, driven writer of music and poetry, and since 2013 he’s put out no fewer than four solo studio albums. His latest, freshly released »Alpska psihadelija«, has finally made its way to our editorial desk too.
The man is real to the bone, it doesn’t get any deeper than this, and what you see is what you get. No hide-and-seek, let alone any studio “post-fiddling” with the sound. He records everything analog in his own little home room, so what you hear is an authentic record of everything coming through the microphone and the amps. Low budget, D.I.Y. smarts, total independence (»indie«), and you won’t find a more genuine imprint of musical expression anywhere.
Sure, the name Samuel Blues sounds like the perfect address for anyone who’s drawn to the blues, but still, with Samuel Blues the whole story is once again one of a kind, and the label »blues« needs a good string of other tags pinned on next to it. Add the title of the new album to the name Samuel Blues and you get a pretty good rough idea of what this musician’s sound is about. Low-budget psychedelic blues brewed on the sunny side of the Alps. Seasoned with a sharp-witted allegory of everyday Gorenjska mishaps. Samo Pivač is a wildly inventive, sparkling writer of poetry, and he also pulls off bringing those lyrics to life in performance with real skill. Alongside the blues mojo, the foot stomping on the floor and the occasional harmonica expertly dropped in, this approach is limited in terms of instrumental minimalism, but it’s precisely in this almost bizarre clashing of sonic elements that Samuel Blues turns out to be an exceptionally skilled juggler, carrying most of the songs with a hugely likeable, teasing, low-pitched vocal. It’s a mix of black vocal posturing, muttering and growling caustically as if from a pulpit, and it feels great, because with this black sarcasm of constant »complaining« it brings a proper tragicomedy to the album. And that’s the essence every honest rock’n’roll act has to deliver. A heaping helping of fun. The vocal approach is unmistakable, and that’s exactly what makes Samo Pivač so appealing and special as a singer-songwriter, despite how trivial the arrangements of the songs are. Samuel Blues can be wildly mocking, and wry is almost too pretty a word for it, but it’s in precisely this vocal character that his poetry blends so skillfully with the reality of our everyday lives.
In his burlesque sarcasm, Samuel Blues is dramatic, more of a mild pessimist who knows nothing of wandering through the fog of carefree everyday life. His is a harsh groundedness; he’s a realist who shakes you up. Even though he’s always ready for a good joke, that joke is often laced with the realization of how bitter and sorrowful it is to exist in the present, to live among the hills of the Alps. Hidden in this tragicomedy is the imprint of the gutsy chaos of a society of gray mice, stiff and backward in its head, whose expiry date ran out long ago.
»Alpska psihadelija« is boldly the cry of the little guy, one that puts you in a good mood but also reminds you that there’s a bitter truth in the joke. With the new album, Samuel Blues cements his reputation as a recognizable name on the Slovenian music scene. He’s growing and maturing as a singer-songwriter who never runs out of sharp wit or the real charge for arrangement theatrics. With that kind of inspiration, the man will soon be penning enough material for a new batch of funny sub-Alpine black blues gut-punchers, with the right alternative rock aftertaste. One man, one character, one musical tale, then. In excellent shape. A tale of sub-Alpine »Ej’ga« blues, which long ago swapped the carefree cheer of the folk hero and his famous (Kekec) songs for something far grittier.
Line-up
Samuel Blues – vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion
Production
Samo Pivač
Track list
1. G.B.T.O. (03:40)
2. Stara Mama (03:07)
3. Kruh Pašteta (02:51)
4. Slovani (03:13)
5. Zelen Tobak (02:58)
6. Nož (02:57)
7. Dolar Kramp (02:22)
8. Pralnca (02:56)
9. Lepo se mej (02:33)
10. Ventilator (02:57)
11. Prašičev vampe (00:20)
12. Hribi (02:25)
