Back during the Great Vacation of 2001 I picked up a ridiculously cheap sampler from Fat Possum Records — Not The Same Old Blues Crap II. This is, hands down — one of the best various-artists albums I own, and all for $5. The blues I heard on there were so far removed from the Stevie Ray Vaughns , B. B. Kings and Claptons of the world. They were raw and rough and full of soul — with a good beat behind them. Well, since my new-years resolution of listening to more good music has come in-line, I’ve stumbled upon The Black Keys (Jackson mentioned them, methinks) — who are also on Fat Possum, and do not let down the rest of the FP roster! For being my age, these guys (there are just two) sound like they’ve been busting rocks for years, and when they do get out of the pokey all they’ve got to look forward to is sharecropping in the Mississippi Delta. Well, maybe that is a little overboard — but the soul and swagger these two put into their music is rarely heard among blues musicians today.

They’ve got a new album (“Thickfreakness”) due out the 8th of April, and they are touring with Sleater Kinney in the coming months. What, you want MP3s? Oh, I guess.