Various Down & Out - The Sad Soul Of The Black South (LP & MP3 Download)

(Trikont) 12 tracks incl. free MP3 download code

Nowhere are romances pleaded for more intimately, nowhere is the comfort of love better understood. And yet. Soul can do more. If you dare to turn over the fluffy carpet of radio-formatted sounds and take a closer look, you will soon discover burn holes, all kinds of interesting dirt and spiritual undertones that short-circuit between the gutter and heaven. Soul can be painfully addictive. At the latest when the forgotten voices of ecstasy, despair and unreason strike back.

While mainstream soul has long since subscribed to "party, champagne and silk sheets", an anachronism persists in the southern United States: independent, small record companies continue to produce their "cheating" dramas for a local market. Classics like "Crying In The Streets" or "Rainbow Road" are standards for blues, soul or even zydeco bands in the Deep South.

This may also be due to the public function these songs assume for their listeners. Whether it's Johnny Copeland pleading on his knees ("Down On Bending Knees") , James Kelly Duhon singing about lovers fathering children and shirking responsibility ("Heart Breaker") or Ede Robin announcing her suicide ("Dead"): No embarrassing private stink is being negotiated here, but a public right: everyone's right to love, respect, compassion!