Acousmatic Sorcery

Everyone’s favourite former vagrant Willis Earl Beal’s debut album is appropriately entitled Acousmatic Sorcery. In many ways it mirrors much of the bluesmith’s life, as it takes the listener on a journey of massive highs and depressing lows over the course of 11 tracks. Much has been made of the songwriter’s homeless days in the desert and his penchant for poorly-recorded material (purely out of necessity of course) – but when you strip all that away we’re left with a collection of songs that are raw, romantic and, at times, really quite wonderful (witness ‘Evening’s Kiss’). Fans of Tom Waits and Robert Johnson should check it out.