Back to Basics

Often described as the "one-man Clash", Billy Bragg is much more than that. As much as I love "The Only Band That Matters", Billy's songs are political in a way that the Clash's songs never were, mining a much more personal and confessional vein. This record (which is actually his first two albums plus an EP on one CD), to me, has him at his best, and while it does contain some amazing protopunk-sounding tunes, for me his most affecting are songs like "A New England", "The Saturday Boy" and "A Lover Sings".

Before he was "The" Billy Bragg, he was in a band called Riff Raff. Whilst researching this post I found a nice blog with a complilation of their singles. So head on over to SOMENOISE if you want to check that out!!

BACK TO BASICS

1. "The Milkman of Human Kindness"
2. "To Have and To Have Not"
3. "Richard"
4. "Lovers Town Revisited"
5. "A New England"
6. "The Man in the Iron Mask"
7. "The Busy Girl Buys Beauty"
8. "It Says Here"
9. "Love Gets Dangerous"
10. "The Myth of Trust"
11. "From a Vauxhall Velox"
12. "The Saturday Boy"
13. "Island of No Return"
14. "St Swithin's Day"
15. "Like Soldiers Do"
16. "This Guitar Says Sorry"
17. "Strange Things Happen"
18. "A Lover Sings"
19. "Between the Wars"
20. "World Turned Upside Down"
21. "Which Side are You on"

And here is a more recent song that has some great lyrics - "Waiting for the Great Leap Forward":

Lobos for Kids

Ok this one goes out to Bert! Since he's as big a Los Lobos fan as I am, here is a CD that they put out for children, featuring the spoken word narrative of one of their chicano heroes, Lalo Guerrero.

I wouldn't say it's a "proper" Lobos album, but a one-off experiment, and as such it has a couple of duds, but there's some rockin' music on it too, particularly "Buzz Buzz".

Enjoy!

PAPA'S DREAM


1. La Bamba - Los Lobos, Traditional
2. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
3. Wooly Bully - Los Lobos, Samudio, Domingo
4. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
5. Buzz Buzz Buzz - Los Lobos, Byrd, Robert
6. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
7. Route 90 - Los Lobos, Garlow, B.
8. Corrido for Papa Lalo - Los Lobos, Traditional
9. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
10. La Bicicleta - Los Lobos, Traditional
11. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
12. Cielito Lindo - Los Lobos, Traditional
13. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
14. La Mañanitas Alegre - Los Lobos, Traditional
15. El Pato - Los Lobos, Traditional
16. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
17. De Colores - Los Lobos, Traditional
18. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
19. Las Mañanitas Tapatias - Los Lobos, Traditional
20. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
21. La Piñata - Los Lobos, Traditional
22. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
23. La, La, La - Los Lobos, Paul, Clarence
24. La Bamba - Los Lobos, Traditional
25. (Narration) - Los Lobos,
26. Wooly Bully Banda (Reprise) - Los Lobos, Samudio, Domingo
27. (Narration) - Los Lobos

>>LISTEN

>>BUY

The Odd Couple

“Jon just works. He doesn’t sleep. He’s like a bat,” says songwriter Richard Buckner, who Langford lured to Chicago to help record an album. “He’s a pure, sweet guy, and I think his art is pure.”

A match made in purgarory..

These are two of my favorite artists doing a very unexpected one-off collaboration.

Mekon Jon Langford and Devotion and Doubt Richard Buckner get together in Sally Timm's pad to lay down some tunage.

Like Ruben Blades said, "La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida, Ay Dios!"..

I debated on whether or not to post this, but I decided I would since it's a tough-to-find cd, particularly for us thirld-world types.

That being said, please, please, PLEASE:

BUY the cd if you hear this and do enjoy it.

NUFF SAID.

Thanks for having me back. enjoy.

Jon Langford & Richard Buckner:
Sir Dark Invader Vs The Fanglord

1. Rolling Of The Eyes (Buckner/Langford)
2. Nothing To Show (Langford)
3. Sweet Anybody (Buckner)
4. From Attic to Basement (Langford)
5. Torn Apart (Langford)
6. Stayed (Buckner)
7. The Inca Princess (Buckner/Langford/Rice/Odom)
8. No Tears Tonight (Buckner/Langford)
9. Do You Wanna Go Somewhere? (Buckner)

Why Obama, by Jon Langford