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Anders Osborne

"Living Room"

Shanachie 5735

Broken hearts sure make for some great music. I was surprised to see Anders' longtime girlfriend, Theresa Andersson, credited only for background vocals on 1 song and none of her superb violin work to be found. The lead track, Boxes, Bills and Pain, may give a clue as Anders sings a soul-searching tune in an empty room amid partially packed moving boxes. Mixed among the 14 other songs are further evidence of a love lost. coast to coast Blues and Takes Two delve deeper into Anders' attempts to grapple with his loss.

But lest ye think that this offering from New Orleans' favorite Scandinavian is full of sad ballads, ye would be very wrong. The liner notes don't lie when they claim Living Room contains "cosmic blues . . . and soulful vocals evolve the link between second line funk, roots rock jamming and delta blues."

This is the best set from Anders since his debut cD. If you haven't kept in touch with him since then, or if your new to the fold, this comes highly recommended from yours truly.

Ken Torvik

©copyright 1999, Suncoast Blues Society