Badd Boy Jasinda

Little Boy Blues started as a mid-'60s garage rock band leaning toward Rolling Stones-ish blues rock, with a lesser degree of folk-rock. By the time their sole album came out in 1968, however, they were very much into period psychedelic heavy rock, with more of a soul color to some of the songs and the arrangements than the average such band. Comprised entirely of original material (from Little Boy Blue Ray Levin), In the Woodland of Weir is of fair but somewhat anonymous quality, stewing together psychedelic-influenced wordplay, blue-eyed soul, and fuzz guitar-and-organ-drenched harder rocking passages.

After two decades of silence the British star of extravagant 80s pop and new wave, Boy George, has reanimated his legendary Culture Club. Formed in London in 1981, the gang is still the same: Boy George on vocals, Roy Hay on guitar, Mickey Craig on bass and Jon Moss on drums. After their last album, Don’t Mind If I Do (1999), there was no sign of a planned comeback, but here we are. The opening number of Life, God & Love, gives a pretty good summary of the album, whose themes revolve around love, human interaction, and contrasts and difference.

At this point in his career, harmonica legend Billy Boy Arnold could just coast on his Chicago blues laurels, rehashing his old tunes and tricks whenever he decides to cut a new album. But fortunately, Arnold doesn't buy into shortcuts, and neither does his producer for this session, Duke Robillard. On Boogie 'n' Shuffle, Arnold really lets it rip – not only in the John Lee Williamson tradition he's well-known for, but also in the R&B traditions of Ray Charles and Jimmy McCracklin. Robillard's band is certainly up to the task, seamlessly switching from flashy soul grooves ("Home in Your Heart") to lazy Jimmy Reed-styled boogies ("Come Here Baby") to Delta blues barrelhouse ("Greenville").