Anders Osborne's "Mind of a Junkie" is my favourite song today, January 8, 2013

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      It ain't easy bein' a rock critic sometimes. You try your best to come up with a half-decent list for your Top 10 albums of the year, then come early January you wish your legs were longer so you could kick yourself in the ass for missing something like the latest Anders Osborne album.

      A review copy of Osborne's 2012 release Black Eye Galaxy came in a while back from the Chicago-based indie, Alligator Records, but I didn't get around to listening to it until yesterday. Over the weekend I'd been playing some old Peter Green vinyl--the 1979 In the Skies album, to be precise--and then today when I started spinning Galaxy again some of Greeney's old black magic got conjured via Osborne's bluesy guitar licks on a track called "Mind of a Junkie".

      I kept playing it over and over again until it became my fave song today, and now maybe it'll be yours too.

      When I went on YouTube to find a clip I came across one that was just posted today of Osborne performing a shortened, acoustic version of "Mind of a Junkie" in somebody's living room. After watching that a bunch of times I realized there was a lot more to the tune than Peter Green-style guitar beauty. It's one of those sad and beautiful numbers that I like the best; the kind that Warren Haynes specializes in. Check it out.

      And here's the full version from Black Eye Galaxy, with those tasty, tasty licks I was telling you about.

      Next December, when I'm compiling my Top 10 of 2013, I'll be sure not to ignore any Anders Osborne albums that might be cluttering up my desk with their extreme awesomeness.

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