Gaff Music
2004
Do The Don't
About This Album
Elliott Sharp's Terraplane is back to follow up their fantastic Blues for Next, switching from the now defunct Knitting Factory to Gaff Music. While Blues for Next had them really expanding on the sound offered up on Terraplane, their fairly straight blues debut, Do the Don't has them distilling all the elements that made Blues for Next such a success into a sharply focused (pun intended) future blues that actually has stronger ties to the raw eclectic blues of the '50s and '60s than just about any other blues album recorded in the last 20 years. While the last album had one disc devoted to the guest artists and one disc more devoted to expanding the blues tradition in new ways, Do the Don't succeeds in integrating the two approaches in a remarkably organic way. There's no doubt that these are deep blues tunes that are fully imbued with everything that would mean to even a casual blues listener; it's a feeling you can't deny. On the other hand, there are sounds on this album that have probably never been heard on a blues album before, and the band pulls it all off without a hitch. Sam Furnace, mostly on baritone sax, sounds fantastic here, in what were among his final recording sessions.
Track List (try tracks 1 and 4)

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