Derek Lee Goodreid - Feel It! (2018)

"A mutated, ramshackle sort of blues takes hold on Derek Lee Goodreid’s “God, The Devil and I”. Completely surreal and otherworldly, Derek Lee Goodreid proves to be a fantastic storyteller, utilizing folklore to a great degree as those old familiar parables are warped beyond recognition. Drawing from a rich blues tradition alongside Captain Beefheart’s joyous output, the whole album is best taken in as a whole. The playfulness continues without limitation for elements of country, rock, blues, folk, even a little bit of dreamy psychedelic enters into the majestic mix.

Wild and wonderful the album starts up with one of its highlights, the title track “God, The Devil and I”. At times the piece recalls Beck’s early anti-folk, punk-influenced, output. Intimacy with a crooning quality guides the joyous “Sweet Devil Below” along. Garage rock elements permeate the lo-fi bliss of “Keep Your Mouth Shut” whose fidelity lends it a sort of intimacy. Driving rhythms with a hint of honky-tonk graces the powerful “Red Dust Road”. Slowing things down a bit giving it a little contemplative element is the tremendous scope of “My Majestic Mountain Home”. Existing in a fantastic dazed haze “My Inheritance” stumbles about embodying the best of the blues. Layer upon layer of sound comes into the mix on the beautiful “For All Time”. Perfectly bringing the album to a close is the reflective ‘Where Is Your Sting?”.