Maher Shalal Hash Baz - Blues Du Jour
[Geographic]

You could argue that anyone who makes a music career out of short sketches, is no more than a charlatan. At forty tracks, 'Blues Du Jour' could have been either a moment of excellence or sheer self-indulgence, quite frankly it's a bit of both.

The only downside to the shortness of the individual jams being there's not enough to keep you enthusiastic, no consistancy is tiresome and lacks any detail to focus upon. Whereas someone like Lone Pigeon made full length songs from piecing together sketches, creating a unique listen with many interesting turns, Maher's efforts fail to excite in the same way. By the time the flow of the music has kicked in, the track is over.

Lo-fi recording can be cool if done correctly or out of necessity, but purposely giving your tracks this feel is obvious and pretentious, afterall why pretend to be something you aren't. So deliberate crackles, fuzz and a seriously tinny sound are hardly flattering, especially when you don't have the songs either.

Fairly boring throughout, there's a few interesting highlights but being so far and few, there's really no point. 'Blues Du Jour' would have sounded so much better if condensed into at least half the tracklisting. Hardly an album of substance or worth, no one will remember this next year.