Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74 (1974)

This is my favourite blues record, and one of the most mindblowing live gigs ever to be put on vinyl. Rory Gallagher, who is considered to be the best white blues guitar player along with Stevie Ray Vaughan, is a force of nature. In contrast to Vaughn, whose licks are as dry as the Texan desert, the troubled Irish genius rocks it dirty like a motherfucker. Drunk off his ass most of the time, he somehow still managed to deliver insanely energetic performances. This album features recordings from his 1974 tour through both Ireland and Northern Ireland, which at that time was nothing more than a war zone; a fact that heavily influenced his blues. Raw power!

1.) Cradle Rock

2.) I Wonder Who

3.) Tattoo'd Lady

4.) Too Much Alcohol

5.) As the Crow Flies

6.) A Million Miles Away

7.) Walk on Hot Coals

8.) Who's That Comin'?

9.) Back on My Stompin' Ground

10.) Maritime

The Black Keys - Rubber Factory (2004)

When it comes to the Black Keys, many comparisons have been drawn to The White Stripes. Both guitar/drums duos with a retro sound and their roots in traditional blues, there is one fundamental difference between those two. While The White Stripes play 21. century garage punk versions of old Mississipi Delta blues songs, The Black Keys do not care too much about redefining the genre. All the songs on Rubber Factory could easily be at least 40 years old. The amazing thing about this record is that, even though its vibe is pretty retro, it sounds incredibly dirty and fresh. The Black Keys deliver modern songs written in a timeless traditional fashion; and that is what makes this album extraordinary.

1.)  When the Lights Go Out

2.) 10 a.m. Automatic

3.) Just Couldn't Tie Me Down

4.) All Hands Against His Own

5.) The Desperate Man

6.) Girl is on My Mind

7.) The Lenghts

8.) Grown so Ugly

9.) Stack Shot Billy

10.) Act Nice and Gentle

11.) Aeroplane Blues

12.) Keep Me

13.) Till I Get My Way

Reverend Deadeye - The Trials and Tribulations of Reverend Deadeye (2010)

Not much is known about Reverend Deadeye except for the fact that he is an actual preacher working in a Navajo reservation somewhere in Arizona, and that he got his name because of an accident in which a snake bit him in his left eye, leaving it blind. 

His music sounds like a bastard son of Tom Waits and the White Stripes; voice and riffs as muddy as the bottom of the Mississippi Delta. Never in my life have I heard anything as dirty and fucked as this whiskey-soaked excorcism of a blues record. 2 Thumbs up!

1.) Can't Take it With You

2.) Backstabbin' Savior

3.) Chased ol' Satan

4.) Drunk on Jesus

5.) Coldest Heart

6.) Led His Children out of Bondage

7.) Jesus on the Mainline

8.) Her Heart Belongs to the Wind

9.) Drinkin' on the Buildin'

10.) Train Medley