Muruch

Alejandro Escovedo’s ninth studio album Real Animal was my most anticipated release of 2008. I only discovered his music last year, but have since then obsessively devoured most of his previous releases and view him as one of the greatest living artists in any genre. I generally prefer Alejandro’s string embellished Americana ballads over his raucous punk-rock barnburners. So I was initially disappointed by this new release, which is heavy on the noise. There were no new “Baby’s Got New Plans” or “Rosalie” to immediately grab my heart in their gentle fist. But on the second listen, the album hit me full force and I felt like an absolute idiot for not recognizing the genius in it the first time around.

Nancy called up to our room, said: “come & help with Sid”
we went down & looked around, the dealer let us in
we thought he was hysterical, the knife it was a joke
don’t know if he did what they said he did, nobody really knows

Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme is another raving Alejandro fanatic and wrote the liner notes for the new album, which features guest guitarist Chuck Prophet. “Always A Friend” rips it open with a catchy beat and polished rock rhythm. “Chelsea Hotel ‘78″ – which revisits the singer’s stay at the infamous hotel during the Sid and Nancy mess – digs into a deeper grind on the verses and hints at Escovedo’s punk capabilities on the chorus squawk.

The intro of the stand out “Sister Lost Soul” takes a sudden dip into retro-pop, but the rest of the melody resurrects Alejandro’s signature string accented Americana sound. The pretty interlude is broken by the guitar cruncher “Smoke”, which sounds like it’s also possessed by a demonic violin. Once again, Alejandro brilliantly weaves folk and classical instrumentation into ear bludgeoning rock thunder.

Bluesy harmonica mingles with a touch of twang in the stunner “People (We’re Only Gonna Live So Long)”, followed by the melancholy haunt “Golden Bear”. The pristine beauty of the string intro of “Hollywood Hills” makes me wish Alejandro would record a classical instrumental album. Then the lovely ballad “Swallows of San Juan” and the finale “Slow Down” ultimately seized my heart during the second rotation.

I beg the universe, please send Alejandro Escovedo back to Mountain Stage. These songs must be awe-inspiring in concert.

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In the near decade that passed between Alejandro Escovedo’s Thirteen Years and the 2001 release of his sixth solo album A Man Under The Influence, he had nearly perfected his sound and brought Ryan Adams along for the ride. Alejandro’s melting of Mexicana and Americana folk-rock styles with the lovely mix of classical string arrangements are even more polished and captivating on this disc.

A Man Under The Influence features almost all of my favourites from Alejandro’s catalogue, with the exception of Thirteen Years‘ “Baby’s Got New Plans”. Among the highlights are the haunting melody “Wave” and the beautiful love song “Rosalie”, both of which were inspired by the immigration of Alejandro’s father and were also featured in Escovedo’s play By The Hand Of The Father.

“Across The River” revisits Escovedo’s more melancholy mood, while “Wedding Day” has a sweeter sentimentality. Both songs are seasoned with weeping pedal steel and the mellifluous strings of cello and violin. Ryan Adams provided harmony vocals on “Don’t Need You” and “As I Fall”.

Also of note are “Castanets” and “Velvet Guitar”. Escovedo apparently refused to perform “Castanets” at concerts for two years after learning that it was on Dubya’s playlist. I guess there is such a thing as bad publicity. Thankfully he recently lifted his self-imposed ban on the song. I tend to prefer Alejandro’s softer side, but the upbeat rock tempo of “Castanets” is irresistibly catchy.

Alejandro Escovedo – Velvet Guitar (mp3)

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Alejandro Escovedo is a respected singer-songwriter that I had heard of, but never actually heard until I caught a rerun of his performance on PBS’ Austin City Limits last year. The striking use of classical string arrangements in his bluesy folk-rock music was instantly captivating. Though his voice is not the most powerful, there’s something undeniably distinctive and beguiling about it. I’m now on a quest to obtain all of his albums. So far my collection only includes A Man Under The Influence (which I’ll also review soon) and his second solo album, Thirteen Years. The title Thirteen Years refers to Escovedo’s thirteen-year relationship with his second wife, who later committed suicide. It’s a concept album of sorts, with instrumental interludes and each song sharing the same narrator.

Escovedo was formerly a member of the bands Buick MacKane and The True Believers, and is the uncle of singer-drummer Sheila E. No Depression magazine (the only music rag I still subscribe to) named him Artist of the Decade in the 1990s, and he is the subject of an upcoming documentary directed by Jonathan Demme.

Thirteen Years features four versions of the instrumental “Thirteen Years Theme”. The first is simply played on harp, another features a string quartet, and the other two are piano solos. I think the second – which is the first of the piano solos – is my favourite, though the strings version is also lovely.

The hauntingly beautiful “Baby’s Got New Plans” is not only the stand out track on this album, it’s probably the best song of Alejandro’s that I’ve heard so far – with the possible exception of A Man Under The Influence’s “Rosalie”. The title track of Thirteen Years has a similar lovely yet melancholy feeling to it.

The jazzy intro to “Helpless” reminds me of Peggy Lee’s “Fever”. “Mountain of Mud” kicks up the guitars for more of a alterna-country meets rock sound. And “The End” picks up the pace even more.

Many of the other vocal tracks, such as “Ballad Of The Sun And The Moon”, have a mellow South Western sunset mood lightly entwined with lovely string arrangements. Other songs on Thirteen Years may fail to shine quite as much as those that I’ve mentioned, but each of them possess a subtle cinematic quality.

The reissued two-disc edition of Thirteen Years contains a bonus disc with instrumental versions of four of the album’s songs, three live covers (Peter Case’s “Two Angels”, Ian Hunter’s “I Wish I Was Your Mother”, and Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes”), and the Buick MacKane version of “Gravity”. Though the Buick MacKane track seems a little out of place, the instrumental and live performances really showcase the beauty of Alejandro’s music.

I was not granted permission to share an mp3 from this album, but here is a track from Alejandro’s debut Gravity:

Alejandro Escovedo – Five Hearts Breaking (mp3)

You can also listen to Alejandro perform a live set at NPR.

Alejandro Escovedo Official Site
Alejandro on MySpace
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