Monday, June 30th, 2008
CONTEST – Alejandro Escovedo @ The Mod Club – July 7, 2008
Perhaps my position on Alejandro Escovedo pretty much sums it up – “Yeah, I’ve heard of him – he’s supposed to be really good, isn’t he?”. Despite heaps of critical acclaim and high-profile fans like Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle, he remains an underground hero at best and inexplicably overlooked by those who should be fans, if they’d only had gotten around to listening. Like me.
I’m not completely unfamiliar with his work – I have the Por Vida tribute record, which was organized to raise money to help Escovedo pay off medical bills from his near-fatal bout with hepatitis in 2003 (now thankfully recovered from) – but even that hasn’t gotten the mileage it probably deserves. But I have spent some time with his new album Real Animal, which is out next week, and as an introduction it makes fine argument for exploring his work further. It’s a vibrant work ranging from janglesome pop to incisive rock to introspective balladry, all delivered with the weathered voice of experience and a healthy dose righteous indignation. You might have thought that his brush with mortality would put him in a quieter, more contemplative mood but apparently that’s what his last album, The Boxing Mirror, covered. With this record he’s quite obviously alive and making the most of it.
Escovedo canceled his last scheduled visit to the area – he was meant to headline one of the days at Hillside last year – but will make it up next Monday, July 6, when he plays the Mod Club. Courtesy of Against The Grain I’ve got a pair of passes to the show to give away, so if you want em, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Alejandro Escovedo” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight July 3.
MP3: Alejandro Escovedo – “Always A Friend”
MySpace: Alejandro Escovedo
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6/30/08 8:06 pm
If Ben Harper were to join with Enrique Iglesias they would make Alejandro Escovedo. Hes very underrated, he just doesn’t have that top 40 sound to him. Speaking of Ben Harper though is anyone going to the All Points West Concert to see him? I’d love to meet you guys there!
7/2/08 1:43 pm
ahhhh…alejandro. great body of work. frank, you should post his cover of The Gun Club’s "Sex beat" up in your cover mp3 section sometime. Its spooky.