–Catherine Hernandez-Faber, American Blues News
Release Date: 17 November 2008
Genre: Blues/Delta Blues/Soul/Rock
Publisher: (C) 2008 Brother Magnum
Label: No Label Affiliation
Time: 39m 53s
Review Date:16-June-2009
Format: CD
JivePK™: http://jivepk.jivewired.com/brothermagnum
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Track Listing:
01. Have A Good Time 3:12
02. I Should Have Known 3:03
03. Cocaine Sheila 3:58
04. The Real Thing 3:47
05. Good Lovin' Feeling 3:54
06. Mexico 3:13
07. Love Wrong Blues 3:29
08. What I Need 3:27
09. Nee-Mo Money 2:48
10. Everything I Wanted 4:33
11. Don't Get Me Talkin' 4:29
Review:
On Meet Me In My Daydream, Brother Magnum serves up a heavy dose of his easily identifiable funk-induced blues and slashing guitar throughout eleven songs - all of which he wrote, produced and arranged. His penetrating, signature solos are pleasingly demonstrative and pump through his veins, literally exploding from his fingertips in flammable fashion. His able-bodied vocals command your attention and can be compared favorably to Albert King. Fans of Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, and Robert Cray will find delight in this effort as well.
Many blues artists live recordings far surpass their studio efforts - there is something about performing in front of crowds that brings out the best in blues performers that somehow traditionally fails to translate well to the studio. Brother Magnum manages to bridge that gap - for a studio release many of the songs have a distinctive "live" feel. This is a tribute to the arrangements and fine production on this effort as well as a testimony to his superb backing musicians.
Brother Magnum's classic "Have A Good Time" will erupt from your speakers like a hurtling fireball and is one of my all time blues favorites. His scorching guitar solo on "What I Need" is almost too short; it is so good you will wish he extended it a little longer, though a very Jimi Hendrix-like riff and vocal echo throughout the song is equally enjoyable. I was half-expecting the good brother to segue into "Red House". One could identify this song as psychedelic blues and be spot on. It's a great song.
"Cocaine Sheila" has traditional blues roots and bemoans the addictive nature of an unattainable woman in a descriptive, horizontal bump-n-grind manner. Brother Magnum's vocals are at the forefront of this number and the guitar is slightly understated, and it works well. A unyielding saxophone solo at 1:50 into the song accentuates the message and gives it a white-hot attitude. "I Should Have Known" and "Mexico" have a shuffle feel to them, blending traditional blues and soul that is incongruous to any specific genre. Both have a birth-of-rock-n-roll feel that is probably the best way to describe them. "Nee-Mo Money" and "Love Wrong Blues" provide wonderful examples of Brother Magnum's celebrated guitar-playing ability. To use a term that is often wrongly associated with heavy metal music, the man simply shreds.
Meet Me In My Daydream is a great addition to any blues lovers collection, a great mix of up tempo funkified numbers, retro soul blues, roots rock, traditional blues and even a shuffle or two. You can't re-invent the wheel but you can still make top of the line tires. Brother Magnum has not invented a new genre of music but he's doing it as good as anyone ever has.
-- Michael Canter Jivewired.com
About Brother Magnum:
Brother Magnum is a double-barreled, high-firepower classic soul music man for the modern age. With a dead aim for making every show he plays with his band The Razor Bumps into a memorable musical party galore, the Austin-based singer, songwriter and guitarist blends the best from the golden age of soul, the coolest blues and the finest roots of rock’n’roll into a sound that blows you away in the most delightful ways.
His veteran musician’s savvy and knack for creating fresh soulful sounds and songs that speak to the heart and get the butt shaking is etched into the proverbial grooves of his new album, Feel Like A King. As Magnum concludes, “I may not be the latest thing, but I am the real thing.”
Within the Brother Magnum sound you can hear a lifetime of loving and making music. “I’ve done it all, man,” he explains. “I’ve done hip-hop, I’ve done country, I’ve done rock’n’roll, I’ve done pop and new wave — all that stuff at times in my life.” And now he’s making the music that comes straight from his heart to yours.
As the youngest of eight kids, Magnum grew up hearing a spectrum of great musical artists and styles. “My dad was into James Brown and Ike & Tina Turner. My Mom loved everything from Al Green to Neil Diamond to The Doors, and they were both heavily into Sly & The Family Stone,” he recalls. “One of my sisters was into Kiss, one of my brothers was a big Parliament-Funkadelic and another brother was into The Cars, Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. I was just saturated with all this music as a kid. You go to my hi-fi to this day, and I’ll be listening Metallica one minute and the next minute I’ll be listening to Buddy Guy. I can truly say that I don’t have a favorite style of music.”
He first started making music at age 11 when he snuck onto his oldest brother’s drum kit and surprised him when he walked in and heard how Magnum had a natural knack for the backbeat. The guitar and keyboards soon followed, and at 13 he played his first show. “All the girls that were there saw me and they were all screaming my name as the lights were flashing. Needless to say, I haven’t been right ever since,” he explains with a chuckle.
His family background and itinerant youth as the child of a career military man also contributes to Magnum’s expansive music, attitudes and world view. His father’s family has Afro-Cuban roots and his mother’s lineage boasts a Native-American heritage. He grew up in various parts of California as well as Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia and Florida, finally landing back in Central Texas by his senior high school years. “The cool thing was that you experienced every kind of culture and all kinds of people, ideologies, and music,” Magnum observes. “My parents are very unique in that they always encouraged us to accept people for who they are, not what they are.”
The sum of his considerable musical experience led him to ultimately make the music closest to his heart as Brother Magnum. “For me, it’s more than trying to make it and be a big rock star,” he explains. “I want to do it my way. I want to be able to write the music I feel and bring it to people so they can enjoy it too.”
His debut album, Meet Me In My Daydream, was a first Brother Magnum shot that “erupt[s] from your speakers like a hurtling fireball,” says SonicJive.com. “Fans of Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz, and Robert Cray will find delight in this effort… a great mix of up-tempo funkified numbers, retro soul blues, roots rock, traditional blues and even a shuffle or two. You can’t reinvent the wheel but you can still make top of the line tires. Brother Magnum has not invented a new genre of music but he's doing it as good as anyone ever has.”
His aim was to make an album that invited listeners in and took them somewhere wonderful. “I wanted the music to say: Come into this daydream with me and see if you can feel this vibe that I’m feeling. I’m gonna make you feel good. Let’s go to a feel good place together.”
For him, it’s all about drawing out the soulfulness, showmanship and pop appeal he learned from such prime inspirations as Otis Redding and Sly Stone and blending it with all the music he loves and the spirit within his soul. “My concept is no concept,” Magnum explains. “This is what it is and who I am. Get yourself loose and enjoy it. Come on this journey with me."
“This stuff that I’m doing now is the most honest music I’ve made because I’m grabbing what feels right to me,” he concludes, “I’m going to my piano and I’m grabbing my guitar and writing. And I don’t say I want it to feel like this or sound like this. I just let it flow, and it’s a beautiful thing.”
That’s because Brother Magnum is the Lone Star State’s soul brother number one, and he proves it on "Feel Like A King". It takes but a listen to indeed feel like a king or a queen as well as a non-stop dance machine. And that’s an offer no genuine fan of real and great music ever wants to miss.
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