A year ago, I saw Alejandro Escovedo speak at the Bandwidth Conference. Embarrassingly, I was not particularly familiar with his work, but the stories he told and songs he played had me very interested. Its fitting now that a year later, I am listening to his most recent release, Real Animal while anticipating this year's conference. Escovedo is a student of many styles, having played in punk band the Nuns, as well as the more alt country Rank and File. These different styles of interest converge on Real Animal , which in many ways feels like the culmination of an artist's work. The album opens with "Always a Friend," a live version of which was featured on Bruce Springsteen's recent iTunes EP. The song does have a bit of that E Street Shuffle, while "Chelsea Hotel '78" rocks more like the New York Dolls. "Chelsea" like many of these songs is autobiographical, some about his days as a musician, and others that are deeply personal.
The combination of life-or-death rockers and confessional ballads reminds me a great deal of Warren Zevon's The Wind . Zevon created that album with his death looming. Escovedo recorded this after surviving a nearly fatal bout with Hepatitis C. The result is sometimes fun, sometimes dark, and almost always moving; a remarkable achievement from a veteran musician just starting to get his due.
MP3 - "Always a Friend " - Alejandro Ecovedo
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