Black Roses

The early '10s have been a crazily prolific period for the already impressively productive Jim Lauderdale. He released three albums in 2013 alone, but that year's Black Roses stands out nevertheless. The most obvious thing distinguishing the record is the band. Luther and Cody Dickinson of the gritty blues-rock trio The North Mississippi Allstars and Muscle Shoals R&B vets Spooner Oldham and David Hood lend Black Roses a blues- and soul-soaked sound as richly atmospheric as the Mississippi swamplands. The album is also one of several on which alt-country king Lauderdale has collaborated with erstwhile Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, and that fruitful partnership creates another batch of rich, rootsy tunes here. The thick and dirty guitar riffs of "Throw My Bucket Down" and "No Later Than Soon" and the classic soul vibe of "13 Clocks" and "Ride On" complement each other as perfectly as the rest of the rootsy moves Lauderdale makes here, from country stomps to jazz-flecked slow-burners.