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MOTU — Awareness or Illusion
(LISR0422, 2025, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-03-11

Awareness or Illusion Cover art

Dr. Richard Michelson, a.k.a. MOTU (Music of the Universe), guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer, and also leader of the band MOTU, claims that Awareness or Illusion is the 24th album by MOTU (the band), though don’t go looking for evidence of that on Discogs, where one will only find MOTU(8) with only a single album, Blue from 2006, listed — here at Exposé we have reviewed their recent albums The Water Is High (2023) and Acceding to the Apocalypse (2024) and we list nine more before that on the MOTU artist page. To see the full listing of all 24 one will need to go to the website — essentially one huge flat file with a few links at the top, the one that says CDs and DVDs is your only ticket to the full blown discography. For Awareness or Illusion, the band has only three members: drummer Ed Modzel, singer Dee Michelson (presumably Richard’s wife), and Dr. Richard himself, playing acoustic and electric guitars, Dobro, mandolin, bass, pedal steel guitar, keyboards, harmonica, and a very rough and distinguished voice, perhaps comparable to Dr. John (The Night Tripper), that gives their rootsy blues-rock sound much of its character. When Dee’s vocals are at the fore, the sound takes on a somewhat sweeter tone, and when they harmonize the vocals can go just about anywhere. The eleven songs at hand here cover the gamut of roots rock and blues with some interesting results. There’s even a couple instrumentals: “For Jeff,” where he channels the spirit of the late Jeff Beck with some amazing results, and “Horizon,” an acoustic bluesy slide guitar number that ranks high with some of Jorma Kaukonen’s finest moments. There’s a bit of attitude on some of the cuts, like the opener “Just Shut Up, Stop Talking to Me” or “Too Much Bullshit to Normalize” (the latter featuring one of Dee’s finest performances on this disc, and also some superb harmonica and slide guitar). The title track is a splendid electric slide number featuring both singers, Dr. Richard leading while Dee adds her wordless vocals to the background. More social commentary and vocal harmonies come in the form of “Easier to Be Blind,” There are plenty of songs like that herein. Think of late 60s bands like The Electric Flag, Cold Blood, Charlie Musselwhite, and James Cotton Blues Band, then strip away all of the horns and glitz, bringing it right down to its raw essence, and you’ll have some idea of where Michelson’s band finds its mojo.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): MOTU / Dr. Richard Michelson

More info
http://www.motu.net/main.html#CD

 

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