The Woes....

First off i've gotta give the props to the good robots over at Music For Robots who originally posted a song by The Woes about a month or ago. I was so taken by the smoldering, languid progression of the song and the lead singer's voice that I got in contact with said singer and he was nice enough to send me a copy of The Woes Coalmine EP. The thing's been in pretty heavy rotation for me since it arrived in the mail. Let me get this out the way right off the bat: yes, lead singer sounds very similar to Tom Waits. But really that statement is the easy way out. Lead singer Osei Essed is indeed deeply gravely, but he imbues his larnyx tearing style with a hell of a lot of soul. The 8 songs on Coalmine EP are hard to categorize. Is it alt-country? Delta Blues? Palace Brothers-esque balladry? Well, a little bit of all those things. And all those things done well. The songs progress slowly and deliberately, moving the way one does when trying to find your way through a dark hallway, feeling with your hands. But it's Essed's voice that's your guide, that you keep walking towards.

From The Woes Coalmine EP:

Blackbird

From Black Sand Recordings site:

Osei Essed - Pity

As near as I can tell there's no easy way to get a hold of Coalmine EP. Essed sent me a CD-R. If you really want to get a copy email me and I'll forward your request along to Essed. I don't want to be giving out the man's email address. But, trust me, you want a copy of this.