The combination of Mississippi blues and New York noise rock may seem interesting in theory, but this ain't theory – it's rock & roll. Which is why this tossed-off afternoon jam session between the bluesman R.L. Burnside and the ironically named East Village art project Jon Spencer Blues Explosion ultimately degenerates into a sludge pile of pointlessness.

The 70-year-old Burnside's music is known for the spell he casts as his guitar riffs unfold around a pounding Bo Diddley-style beat. But here, Burnside's spell is constantly obliterated under the weight of guitarist Spencer's lumbering, one-string fuzz bombs. The Blues Explosion muscle-riff their way into the opening track, "Goin' Down South," in a haze of distortion that dominates the subtle chaos of the original version, on Burnside's 1994 album, Too Bad Jim. And when Spencer blurts out the occasional vocal in an Ivy League approximation of Elvis Presley – as he does in his duet with Burnside on "Boogie Chillen" or in the out-of-control finale, "Have You Ever Been Lonely" – the results are downright embarrassing.

Several tracks end abruptly in midjam. Spencer and his gang apparently employed the Guided by Voices approach to mixing the record – cutting tracks just as the essence of a song appears. It's a contrivance that may work for GBV's smart pop but not for Burnside's slow-building blues. The bluesman's seething, hypnotic vibe manages to burn through on a few tracks – in spite of Spencer's interference. "Poor Boy" and "Shake 'Em on Down" find the Blues Explosion's Judah Bauer, on harmonica, and Russell Simins, on drums, actually locking in with Burnside momentarily before the songs end without resolution.

On a marginally interesting note, Spencer's romanticizing of sleaze brings out a down-and-dirty aspect of Burnside that's only implicit on the bluesman's previous recordings. For example, when Spencer bum-rushes Burnside's rambling. Stagger Lee-like tale of drunken abandon in the nearly six-minute-long "The Criminal Inside Me," requesting spare change, the bluesman answers annoyedly, "If you don't get outta my face quick/I'm goin' kick your ass, you son of a bitch." It's a joke, of course, but Burnside's tone suggests he means it. (RS 741)

MARK KEMP