Michael Doucet-From Now On (Review)

Doucet gets right down to business in "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky". The Cajun-Funk sound comes right through loud and clear. The fiddle growls and screeches with force. Talk about a guy having a fun time, Doucet recorded this entire album live in three sessions, no overdubs. He's just having a good time with his friends and playing some good music.

"Le two-step de Basile" kicks it up a notch, with the fiddle speeding like there was no tomorrow. You could swear there were two fiddles playing, but it's just Doucet. Real Cajun here, and it's got a serious kick. You just want to scream out "HOOOOOOOO-EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A real good time. Short too, so you don't end up giving yourself a heart attack with all the dancing you'll be doing.

"Bee de la Manche" is sung in French, and you can feel the passion. It's a half-blues, half-Cajun song, and Doucet just pounds it out. Another song with just him and his octave violin.

"Madame Boudreaux" is another good song with Doucet on fiddle and vocals, with Todd Duke on the guitar keeping the pace. A song sung in French, it was originally an early-20th century Cuban tune, and Doucet sings it with a little Carribean flavor in there.

"Chez Denouse" is a great passionate number. It continues the albums pace and is another song which is great to listen to whether you're just sitting on the porch of a cabin drinking a fine glass of something or other or you're having a great get together. It's always a crowd pleaser.

"A Closer Walk With Thee/I Know" is a refreshingly slow placed, old time country song. Real country. It speeds up, but it stays as country as could be. It keeps the album fresh and very listenable.

"Reels de Mamou" goes back to the Cajun, and it's straight instrumental for over 5 minutes. He's just sawing the damn fiddle in half. Unbelievable.

"L'amour ou la folie" is like a truck barrelling down the highway in the form of dueling fiddlers Doucet and Mitchell Reed. They are with each other so well on this track. They just follow one another. An awesome sound.

"Fonky Bayou", as you may have guessed, has got a little funky spice in it, but just a little, and it's real nice.

"Amedee's Accordian" is a fantastic accordion number. But just when it gets going, it stops, clocking in at only 2:17. A damn shame.

"Contredanse de Mamou" is another great country-Cajun number. It just goes, and never stops. But the album is lacking a lot of variety at this point, and this track shows it. What Doucet is making is great, but the term too much of a good thing is starting to shine through just ever so slightly.

And just as I finished typing that sentence, here is "Brasse le gombo vite (Stir the Combo Fast)". With some Eastern European-esque influences (and Doucet's trademark Cajun style), it's a spooky number, but not haunting. Not scary, but you could picture a witch flying around to this tune.

"New Orleans" is a romantic number presumably composed while Doucet was thinking about that city where Cajun music was raised. Doucet pours his heart into this fun number, and it may be the best track on this entire album.

"Wade's Two-Step" is as it sounds, a cool two-step number. The song returns to the slight repetitive country-Cajun song that has begun to show up, but there's no ignoring Doucet's talent, so it's easy to let it slide.

"Chere Evangeline" is a slow, traditional song. No blazing fiddles here, and it's nice. Doucet is great at playing the fiddle fast, there's no question. But his talent shows through when he's able to stretch out to different genres and pull them together.

"Happy One-Step" is another one of those fiddle-blazers that are so common on this album. It's becoming a bit tedious here.

"Madame Young" is more traditional, but still sounds similar to other songs on the album.

Ah, now "Saint Louis Blues" is the kind of variety I'm looking for. A very country-blues song, but with a little flavor in there, like you could start doing the tango. Again, a different tone, a different sound, and the violin really means something in this. Before, he's just killing the damn instrument, and it's boring with how fast it's going. You really savor it on this track, and the guitar shines through as well. A real nice track with a lot of different sounds in it.

The album ends on the song "You Gotta Move". Doucet croons on this track, and it's real dark and haunting. It's addictive how dark it is. "You may be rich/you may be poor/you may be high/you may be low/but when the lord/get ready/you got to move" This is Doucet on the guitar, and it hums so soulfully. Really amazing, and a great track to end the album on.

The album, musically, is insanely good. Doucet is a master of the fiddle, and knows how to make a soulful song. Sometimes though, it's too much off a good thing. Too many tracks does he play the fiddle so fast it catches fire. It's as if it's second nature, and when it becomes that way, it's not special or amazing anymore. But when Doucet tosses it up, changes the sound, it's like a warm rainstorm. So refreshing, so beautiful, just right.

Recommended tracks: "Le two-step de Basile", "Madame Boudreaux", "Amadee's Accordian", "Brasse le gombo vite", "New Orleans", "Saint Louis Blues", "You Gotta Move"