September 2010

Liner Notes by Brian Chozick

Menu of this month's listings, stories and columns

 

Local: Los Lonely Boys, Whole Enchilada Festival, Las Cruces

It is again time for the annual Whole Enchilada Festival. Every September, Las Cruces promises to keep our bellies full and our ears buzzing. The first is achieved with their monstrous world-record enchilada, plus plenty of food vendors of all kinds. The second is just as delicious, but it heats the soul and tingles in a completely different way. The headlining entertainment will be Los Lonely Boys. This Texas-born trio’s most recent release, the EP “1969,” was a very satisfying half-order of tunes. They paid homage to their favorite morsels from that year, putting their unique spin on classics by the Beatles, the Doors, Buddy Holly and Tony Joe White. When it came to one of their heroes, Santana, it was closer to an actual flashback in time. Their combination of rock, Tex-Mex, country, R&B, blues and Latin music has made them a standout in an extremely crowded worldwide music scene. Make sure not to miss this show, and help the boys not feel so lonely.

National: Ozzy Osbourne, “Scream,” Epic Records

Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne returns with his tenth solo studio disc, and in classic Ozzy tradition he has turned over another stone and found himself a new guitarist. It seems that ever since he lost his guitar virtuoso, Randy Rhodes, in a plane crash, he has never been able to keep a lead guitarist in his stable. “Scream” offers up the debut of the fifth axeman (counting “Speak of the Devil’s” Brad Gillis) in Gus G. from Greece, coming in at half Ozzy’s age. He’s lit a fire under the former lead vocalist of Black Sabbath, creating some of the heaviest music since Ozzy left the hostile and bitter band out of Birmingham, England, more than three decades ago. There are a couple of song titles that come directly from the Ozzy Osbourne book of live banter. The first being the single “Let Me Hear You Scream,” a mantra that is heard throughout all his concerts, and “I Love You All,” a sentiment always uttered at shows, is a one-minute ballad on the disc. Ozzy Osbourne has been rocking us out for more than 40 years now, and I think it’s time we move this Prince of Darkness up the royal ladder and start calling him the King.

Alejandro Escovedo, “Street Songs of Love,” Fantasy

His name alone should start some bells ringing due to his lineage of musical talent, but his most famous relation simply chose a letter to represent her last name. His niece Sheila E. achieved the most notoriety, as Prince’s drummer, but in terms of longevity, it’s no contest. Alejandro has been chugging away since the mid-’70s with the Nuns, and then Rank and File, and after that with True Believers. It has been close to two decades since he decided to make it out on his own, with the exception of his brilliant 1997 garage-rock band, Buick Mackane. His latest, “Street Songs of Love,” finds him dissecting some sounds of his past, with a down-tempo number, a stripped-away ballad, some ruckus hell-raising and some fantastic Americana. He has invited a few friends back from 2008’s “Real Animal.” Roots-rock guitarist Chuck Prophet co-wrote more than half the album. Tony Visconti, best known for his work with David Bowie and T. Rex, returned as producer, and Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter joined him on “Down in the Bowery.” Even The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, lent his vocal talents on the barn-burner “Faith.” It is no wonder why Alejandro found the street of love — with friends like these, who could go wrong?

The Rolling Stones, “Stones in Exile,” Eagle Rock Entertainment

I know you’re thinking “Enough with the Stones already … you covered this last month.” Actually, I gave you a month off, and that was about the “Exile” album itself; this is “Stones in Exile,” a video that delves deeper into the lore and legend of the “Exile on Main Street” sessions themselves. This is a documentary that covers the band unlike any other previous entry on the subject. It combines terrific archival movie footage with copious amounts of stills. The theme is all about the glorious 1972 double-disc set and how they came together in fleeing from their mother England and its harsh tax structure. The general consensus was that the most conducive way to make a record does not include drug abuse, the constant flow of riff raff and simple homesickness, not to mention the poor excuse for a studio. The trials and tribulations of recording in what was Keith Richards’ mansion is the real meat, and even casual fans will be awestruck by the process. There are also interviews with Jack White, Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon and director Martin Scorcese, who chose the Stones as the subject of a concert film. The DVD of course has a few bonus features, with extended interviews, etc., but not to be missed is a very amusing return back to the studio with an extremely confused Charlie Watts and Mick Jagger. You’ve heard the masterpiece — now witness how it was created.

Collectibles: Sand Rubies, “Best of the Sidewinders & Sand Rubies 85-10,” San Jacinto

It has been about three years since the album “Mas Cuacha” marked the return of the Sand Rubies, bridging a decade-long gap from their previous outing. They also had taken five years off, from 1993 to 1998. The guys seem to work best with extended absences; the outcome has always been consistently brilliant, so we will always wait patiently. This 25th anniversary five-CD collection puts it all here in one place, with the best of all incarnations of the band and their studio work, a platter of primarily obscure tracks, and a double live show from Germany. The rarities are worth the price of admission alone, with a slew of cover versions, acoustic tracks and unreleased material. The cake gets a double layer of icing with the 1999 performance featuring El Paso’s very own New Texican Ken Andre on bass during their “Return of the Living Dead” tour. The band is hitting on all cylinders and Rich’s guitar playing is simply on fire. The compilation is housed in a double-thick DVD-style package, with the memorable “Witchdoctor” art emblazed on the cover. The Sand Rubies 1985–2010 are better than a treasure chest filled with all the rubies in the world.


Brian Chozick is owner of Tumblin’
Dice Music. Drop him a line at
tumblindicemusic@netscape.net.

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