Brother Isaiah Owens
is a force of nature. The latest installment in the
CaseQuarter
label's catalog that showcases the extreme frenzied edge of all-but-underground
Southern gospel
music is another example of intense, vanguard creativity, spirit-filled vision, and integrity. Having fronted
the Flying Clouds of Montgomery, Alabama
for over 40 years,
Brother Owens
bought an electric guitar, learned how to play some chords and went solo. His music is wide open, full of dissonance and space, strange elliptical phrases, dynamic utterances and slurs, and comes from the heart of
deep blues
. These 18 cuts were recorded by musicologist
Kevin Nutt
in three separate settings: As broadcasts over
WMGY
, an AM
gospel
station in Montgomery, in the studios of that station, and in a proper studio in the
Alabama Center for Traditional Culture
. The sheer wildness and blessed wailing here is unlike anything one has ever heard, whether it be on
traditional hymns
or his own compositions. It's rough, brutal and sweet at the same time, like
Junior Kimbrough
singing
accompanied by
Wild Man Fischer
. The spirit is in
and he rises above the flesh by tunneling through the body. He rocks, he rolls, he slips, slides and strolls, with a voice from the highest heaven and a guitar sound from another world. Highly recommended for the stout of heart. This is sanctified
, untamed, untainted and beyond the pale. ~ Thom Jurek