
[For the background on this series, see here .] After a brief respite, the jangly eighties series is back. Today's episode features two former bands of legendary Austin guitarist Alejandro Escovedo . Rank And File started with a bang in 1982, but soon fizzled. Their first record, Sundown , is worth hearing. In a review that will entice many regular readers of this blog, All Music Guide decscribed it as "a gem of tuneful, Byrds-ian pop, with a healthy dollop of Gram Parsons and [...]

I'm very conflicted when it comes to tribute albums. On one hand, they kind of seem like needless exercises. If the artist or album in question is good enough to pay tribute to, why try to recreate the magic? Because we get the flavor of the month reworking some song off Tapestry (I'm looking at you, Blessed Union of Souls), this is going to rekindle our affection for one of the greatest singer/songwriter albums of all time? Usually, it works, but for the wrong reasons (i.e. "God! I can't take it! Put on the original!") [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 2007-11-27, Austin [mp3,ogg,flac] "Mountain of Mud " [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Basia Bulat : " In the Night" [mp3] from Basia Bulat (out February 5th) other Basia Bulat music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Curt Yagi : "Everything's Alright" [mp3] other Curt Yagi music blog [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 2007-11-27, Austin [mp3,ogg,flac] "Mountain of Mud" [mp3] Alejandro Escovedo : 2007-11-20, Austin [mp3,ogg,flac] "Real Animal" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Damien Rice : 2004-06-12, Manchester (Bonnaroo Music Festival) [mp3,ogg,flac] "The Blower's Daughter" [mp3] other Damien Rice music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 2006-09-16, New York [mp3,ogg,flac] "Velvet Guitar" [mp3] Alejandro Escovedo : 2001-08-21, Chicago [mp3,ogg,flac] "Follow You Down" [mp3] Alejandro Escovedo : 2000-11-09, Philadelphia [mp3,ogg,flac] "Wave" [mp3] Alejandro Escovedo : 1999-11-11, St. Louis [mp3,ogg,flac] "Thirteen Years" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 1999-09-05, Seattle [mp3,ogg,flac] "Crooked Frame" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Dfactor : "Take Away the Pain" [mp3] other Dfactor music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws ex reverie : "Orange Flame" [mp3] ex reverie : "Perennial" [mp3] [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 1998-04-07, Iowa City [mp3,ogg,flac] "Two Angels" [mp3] Alejandro Escovedo : 1998-03-04, Middleton [mp3,ogg,flac] "Sacramento & Polk" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Beam : "es Anges N'ont Pas Dailles" [mp3] from Beam Beam : "Circles" [mp3] from Beam [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 2007-12-02, Charlottesville [mp3,ogg,flac] "Sensitive Boy" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Calexico : 2004-06-11, Bonnaroo [mp3,ogg,flac] "Black Heart" [mp3] other Calexico music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Cracker : "Merry Christmas, Emily" [mp3[ other Cracker music blog posts: @lhb @hype [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 2007-12-01, Annapolis [mp3,ogg,flac] "Evita's Lullaby" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Eric Matthews : "Little 18" [mp3] from The Imagination Stage (out January 22nd) other Eric Matthews music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Ryan Adams : 2007-11-24, Munich [mp3,ogg,flac] "Everybody Knows" [mp3] [...]
Last week I posted three YouTube videos from a 2006 Trekky Records holiday show that featured the Mountain Goats playing holiday covers. Here are the mp3s of the holiday covers performed by John Darnielle (backed on drums by Jon Wurster). Mountain Goats : "Run, Rudolph, Run (Chuck Berry cover)" [mp3] Mountain Goats : "Christmas in Prison (John Prine cover)" [mp3] Mountain Goats : "Merry Christmas From [...]

i mentioned a couple weeks ago that david bromberg will be involved with the old town school of folk 50th anniversary concert here in december, but he's also playing at the vic tonight...for a guy who's been pretty reclusive over the past twenty years, owning & operating a violin repair shop in wilmington, delaware & playing around town every once in a while, it's good to see him back in the game (he also released his first studio album since 1990 earlier this year)...often reffered to as a musician's musician, & one of the first folkies [...]

One of the great things about Alejandro Escovedo's tenure at Bloodshot Records was that it paved the way for plenty of collaboration time with Jon Langford. They didn't really write much together - just took on a few covers, but it's fun to listen to the two of them together and it's funny in a sense to think that a Welsh-born dude and a guy from a family that emigrated to America from Mexico created some of the best Americana-sounding stuff in the late 1990s. I'm going down to Bloodshot's hometown Chicago tomorrow to see Alejandro [...]
Alejandro Escovedo : 2007-09-05, Haddon Heights [mp3,ogg,flac] "Sensitive Boy" [mp3] other Alejandro Escovedo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Citay : "First Fantasy" [mp3] from other Citay music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws Ditty Bops : 2007-09-01, Kent [mp3,ogg,flac] "Short Stacks" [mp3] other Ditty Bops music blog posts: @lhb [...]
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... **Click on the link to read the full post, download mp3s, and comment.**
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... **Click on the link to read the full post, download mp3s, and comment.**

DOWNLOAD: Alejandro Escovedo - Five Hearts Breaking (MP3) Alejandro Escovedo @ River Roots Live Music Fest - Sept 23, 2006 ( CRED ) Alejandro Escovedo is returning to NYC to play an intimate show at Joe's Pub on April 12th . David Fricke was at his Carnegie Hall show in December . All tour dates below... Alejandro Escovedo - Tour Dates 03.08.07: High Noon Saloon Madison, WI [...]
Alejandro Escovedo has been good to Madison. Over the past couple of years this is at least his third stop in the state's capital, and I couldn't be more excited about his upcoming show at the High Noon Saloon on Thursday, March 8th. Billed as an "acoustic duo," Escovedo will be joined onstage by Violinist (and Wisconsin native) Susan Voelz of Poi Dog Pondering . Tickets are $16 in advance and $18 day of show with Chuck Prophet opening thing up. Myspace: Alejandro Escovedo [...]
My brother, Indie Mom's Uncle T , is also an avid music connoisseur. He has excellent taste, but he leans more toward blues and country than I do. He has made an annual Best list for years that he distributes to friends and family. I have learned to pay attention to the artists he takes notice of. Over the years he has turned me on to Cat Power, Warren Zevon, Joseph Arthur, Lucinda Williams, the Heartless Bastards, and Alejandro Escovedo. For an entirely different take on 2006 from our usual Speed of Dark fare, [...]

There were a number of albums in 2006 about which expectations were raised by the pre-release of great single or EP tracks only for this MAM to be disillusioned on the release of the actual album. Guillemots a British indie pop band released Through The Windowpane in September. This was a disappointing album following some promising single and EP releases. Too twee and try-hard for my tastes. So much potential might be released if the [...]

If compiling my thirty favorite singles wasn't hard enough, culling a list of my thirty favorite songs proved near impossible. Every entry that was edged off the countdown was given a more drawn-out goodbye than an airport sendoff. With so many standouts in a crowded field, I had to make some very, very tough calls. But with that sonic surgery accomplished, I can happily say that these songs are the ones that have generously defined my year, soundtracked it and vastly improved it. Here are my picks: 30) [...]