Out from the ashes of doom comes BBE’s “Lost and Found” series Rockabilly and Jump Blues from Keb Darge and Cut Chemist. That’s right, read it one more time. Keb Darge, the up front and center funk-meister and turntablist/producer extraordinaire Cut Chemist bring you something completely amazing and unexpected; Rockabilly and Jump Blues.
I guess you could say I have selective reading. I saw “Cut Chemist” and “Lost and Found.” My response? So In. I will play this back to back at the gym, track for track. This album will totally keep my reps going. I’ll just give it a test run at work to make sure it gets me just right.
Three seconds in and I’m in shock. Is this the right album? I take a second look and read the whole album title while it’s playing. I did not order this. But I am keeping this. Why am I not turning this off? Why is this so awesome? Why do I feel great listening to this music? I listen to house music. I have every single Underworld album and fall asleep to Sade. This is, by far, the one thing I didn’t expect to be in my life. Yet, I feel it’s the missing puzzle piece I never knew I was missing. This music seems to be a part of history that could have been missed, and skipped over. There is no radio station that plays music like this, because if there was, it would be “station 2” on the radio in my car.
Every track of this album has its own unique vibe, feel and entourage of in-your-face, ageless, decades-old instruments. An explanation of the process from front to back of this album is un-possible.
First track: Buddy Griffen and his Orchestra 1597’s “I Got A Secret (I Ain’t Gonna Keep)”—I want to drink Jack Daniels, hike up my socks and go golfing.
Third track: “Moonlighers’ “Broken Heart”—I want to put the top down in the Corvette and drive up the coast.
Fifth track: Chuck Berry’s “Too Much Monkey Business”—I want to eat a burger at Johnny Rockets.
Track thirty-one: The Night Raiders’ “Cottonpickin’”—I feel like the Sheriff in the first scene in Kill Bill, with the aviators on the dash.
Since most of the tracks are under three minutes, my ADHD is cured from any issues with this album. I’ve currently been playing it for the past week or so and you should too. The good vibes that all these tracks put out make any cloudy day seem like clear blue skies in the high 80s. Now the question to pose on this album is: will it pass the situational test? Answer isn’t a yes. It’s a hell yea. On date and you’re lame? This will change the vibe. At a quiet house party? Let’s play rockabilly and do lines off of my cow-cloth coffee table. At a funeral? Hell yea. I guess there isn’t much else you can say about this album. I’m off to Vegas. This will be on repeat the whole way. Disagree? We can argue over two rocket doubles for lunch when I get back. You’re buying.
Keb Darge and Cut Chemist Present: Lost and Found Rockabilly and Jump Blues is out now on BBE.
